In the previous two weeks playing against second and third placed Exeter and Nottingham at the Gardens you could say that the visitors were unadventurous at best as they tried to keep it tight to foil Saints, not so with Coventry. From the off they came out and played their own game.

For three quarters of the game they gave as good as they got rather than trying to limit the opposition as we had seen in previous weeks and had luck been on their side they might have got something out of the encounter. Had it not been for a Nathan Jones yellow card which disrupted the home side then they might have been in the hunt for, given their effort and approach to the game, a deserved bonus point. It was not to be though as Saints upped the tempo to run in four late tries including two in injury time from the two Pauls, Shields and Diggin.

With just the game down at Newbury in two weeks time before the finale at home to Launceston at the end of the month the undefeated season certainly looks attainable. Not forgetting how close Newbury ran us at home the lads look well set to emulate the squad in the ‘Demolition' season in the mid 90's when the Saints cut a swathe back to the top by remaining undefeated throughout in the old Division Two.

Before that milestone can be achieved though we have the little matter of a trip to London...

FINAL FEVER

Apart from a Middlesex Sevens trophy fives years ago you could not say Twickenham has been a happy hunting ground for Saints in their quest for domestic silverware. No one can forget it was the venue for the greatest day in the clubs history when Saints beat Munster to win the European Cup but in the last two decades there have been some totally forgettable days out in the search for an English prize be it of the Pilkington, Tetleys or Powergen variety.

Losses to Harlequins in 91, Wasps in 2000, then successive losses to London Irish and Gloucester in 02 & 03 might make you think that there is some kind of curse on us but hopefully all doubts will be dispelled on Saturday in the EDF Trophy final against Exeter Chiefs. Okay so this may be the second tier competition and not everyone's cup of tea but the club has targeted this competition to be won and as supporters who are we to argue with that if it gives us a day out on the big stage.

As for our opponents it is hard to know exactly which Chiefs will turn up on the day.

Saturday is a one off, its all or nothing, no dress rehearsal. Damage limitation is not the order of the day as you might as well lose by 20 points than a single score if your name is not on that trophy at the end of eighty minutes. Do they try once more to rely on their pack to grind it out where they have failed twice before this season or give their backs a crack at breaking the Saints? But at the end of the day that is their problem and given the wide open spaces of Twickenham I think they just might be a touch more worried about our game plan than we are of theirs. Though remembering that nightmare of final against London Irish where we just had to turn up to win I am not counting any of those chickens just yet but I think we could win this one if we are anywhere near the top of our game.

The trip to HQ will almost seem like a home game given some of the places the team has had to travel to get this far. Apart from a battle with our near neighbours Bedford at Goldington Road the other rounds have been at Doncaster, Cornish Pirates and Plymouth. Yet again the Saints support will be travelling in their many thousands to the game. With it being a noon kick-off it will be an early start for most and for those staying on for the Tigers v Ospreys game then the trek back to the Gardens on the motorway for (hopefully) a night of celebration it could be a long, long day but, fingers crossed, enjoyable all the same. See you there!

MORE RUGBY MADNESS

I am sure some of you can remember a television programme called ‘It's a Knockout' where teams representing towns in the UK competed in a series of mind boggling games, usually involving water, to win the contest and a chance to take on the might of Europe in Jeux sans Frontieres.

Part of the game entailed you ‘playing your joker' if you were particularly good at a certain task. Then you could double your points. That was all very good for a knockabout bit of television that kept millions glued to their sets in the 1970's but it is not the kind of thing you would expect to see adapted to rugby some thirty years later.

Yet with the latest experimental law being tried out in South Africa a variation of ‘playing your joker' is exactly what is being tried out. Before the game each captain is issued with two white cards. He can use these cards to question a decision made by the match officials, however he is limited to use just one card per half. You could then use the card to question any decision be it disallowed (or given) try, penalties, offsides etc etc. To me it looks like a potential minefield.

On Tuesday night at the University of Cape Town v University of Stellenbosch game 20,000 spectators were treated to the first use of this system. Apparently a lot of them were not sure what was going on but those trying to adopt the use of ‘jokers' claimed it was a great success.

Even more worryingly after just one game they are talking about expanding it to two cards a half with some half cocked plan that allows you to keep your option of using a second if you are right on the first. Its madness.

Not only does it put extra pressure on referees but also the captains as to when do you exactly play your ‘jokers'. Do you gamble on the penalty in the first five minutes or wait hoping to get a try reversed later on then if nothing comes along just use it for any old thing as time runs out.

One of the organizers pointed out that a variance of the white card system works well in American Footballs NFL. The last time I looked at NFL it was small snippets of action in a sea of officialdom. Let's hope the powers that be do not lead rugby in the same direction. If they do that ‘joker' might be on us.