Northampton Saints v Nottingham Chiefs.

National Division 1.  Round 26, 29th March 2008

Result: Saints 17, Nottingham 10

Hood's Men Nearly Steal The Day

Based on this performance the news is that the Saints have only just reached base camp in their efforts to plant a flag at the top of English club Rugby. A harsh assessment maybe given such a successful season, but there is still plenty to be worked on at Franklins Gardens as Northampton struggled to close the cupboard door on one or two of last season's familiar skeletons.  

 Whether there was a slight sense of "after the lord mayor's show" amongst the side it would be hard to say but Northampton certainly lacked the accuracy and focus to be able to put away a team that had been reduced to fourteen men for the whole of the second half. In fact had Nottingham been at full strength for most of this match then perhaps there would have been a different story to tell as they fought tooth and nail to upset the odds.

In the end the game probably turned on one single moment of madness from Nottingham prop Joe Duffy. Having just secured a 6-7 lead in a match which had failed to ignite the senses for most of the first half, Nottingham returned to their half of the pitch with the halftime whistle about to go. There was just enough time for a restart and Saints stormed straight back up the middle of the pitch to the Nottingham twenty two, the play went to ground and with only a handful of players committed to the breakdown Duffy stepped into the fray and clearly put boot to body in full view of referee Dale Newitt. The red card was promptly produced and without hesitation Bruce Reihana slotted over the penalty to immediately restore the lead.

 Even with the wind and rain sweeping in the match had begun brightly and both sides looked to include some invention in their game with Nottingham proving that they can count beyond eight. But the play faded as quickly as the afternoon light and the affair became a fractious bitty one. Both sides were forced into killing the ball on more than one occasion and the opposing defences dominated.

 Bruce Reihana benefiting from two penalty calls on 10 and 20 minutes for offside and not rolling away respectively put the Saints 6 - 0 ahead. A third missed penalty on 30 minutes was the prelude to an intense ten minutes after man of the match Ansbro isolated his man and forced him to hold on.

Nottingham pushed the Saints back into their own half after the re-start when Bruce Reihana took possession and mounted one of his familiar attacks, this time slipping tackles and finding space in behind the Nottingham defence. Ashton was quickly up in support but couldn't quite make the early kick through, the cover beating him to the touchdown.

Saints maintained the pressure and one sweet pass to Easter from Tom Smith was worth a try in its own right but it was all to no avail. Nottingham intent on giving as good as they got responded in kind and a retreating Saints were forced into an emergency clearance to touch.

 Time for Nottingham to dust off their key weapon. The maul. Time for the Saints to practise pulling it down with successive penalties only delaying the inevitable, Nottingham pilling over the line for Parr to secure the first try of the match and Jackson's conversion the lead, Duffy undoing all the good work only moments later.

The second half commenced with another effective low trajectory Jackson penalty advancing Nottingham's cause, but with only fourteen men on the pitch it must surely have been only a matter of time before the Saints secured the scores they needed?

 Ansbro almost immediately confirmed the expectations of the home crowd after a quickly taken Ashton lineout led to a wave of successive attacks, eventually the overlap appeared and Shields fed the young centre who dotted down behind the line. Reihana missed the conversion, Saints edged ahead 14 - 10.

Saints set about killing off Nottingham and making use of the extra man with Tonga'uiha and a Robinson entering the fray. A mop and bucket are required for the lady two rows in front of me as she melts into an amorphous blob.  

Hood's merry men however had a different idea and set about restricting Northampton's ambition and with stout defending and the re-introduction of the ever useful maul they kept Saints at bay. But the Saints were also guilty of failing to help themselves as pass after pass went to ground or were knocked on at the vital moment. One great break from Robinson was only stemmed by the fact that the man himself was not available to re-cycle the ball at the vital moment.

With Nottingham still in touch there was always a chance that the home side's undefeated season might come to an end, and none fought more tenaciously than Nottingham's Tim Molenaar who epitomised the visitor's efforts. Reihana recognising the threat secured a further 3 points by converting a late penalty.

There was still time for Nottingham to apply late injury time pressure and the mother of all mauls as all fourteen of their side huffed, puffed and heaved their way toward the Northampton try line. Full credit to the Saintsmen though who refused to concede any ground to the onslaught induced by Nottingham, if there is one thing that is Premiership quality about this Northampton side then the defence must be it.

Brian Clough another name synonymous with Nottingham used to say "It's no good if you can't bag the onion" whatever the Rugby translation of this saying might be Northampton let too many chances to bag the onion go to waste today. On the other hand if Nottingham can discover a different way of bagging the onion they might soon be joining today's hosts in the top flight.

Teams:
Northampton Saints - Reihana (capt); Ashton (Harries 79mins), Ansbro, Downey, Diggin; Myler, Howard (Robinson 52mins); Smith (Tonga'uiha 52mins), Shields (Gray 64mins), Stewart, Cannon (Lord 71mins), Rae, Fox (Lawes 64mins), Lewitt, Easter.

Nottingham - Jackson; Dodge (Nirmalendran 75mins), Smith, Molenaar, Savage (Loney 41mins); Thompson, Usasz (Pilgrim 68mins); Parr (Hopkins 52mins), Duffey, Hall, Morley (Stannard 64mins), Rouse, Hammond (capt), Sherriff, Montagu.

Scorers:
Northampton Saints - Try: Ansbro; Pens: Reihana (4).

Nottingham - Try: Parr; Con: Jackson; Pen: Jackson.

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