Northampton Saints 66 – 0 Benetton Treviso

As the Saints ran out to face the pink-shirted Treviso, omens were good for a win – we were playing the right way (that is, attacking the Sturtridge end in the first half).  Sean Lamont was a welcome sight, making his first start since November, giving the back line a very familiar feel – Reihana, Ashton, Clarke, Downey, and Lamont were joined by new boy Lee Dickson and not-so-new boy Carlos Spencer.  New signings dominated the forwards, with Tiny, Shields and Murray being joined by Day, Lobbe, Best, Gray, and Wilson.  In fact, some supporters may have been more familiar with some of the Treviso players – Andy Vilk, Fraser Waters, and Michael Horak all started for the Italians.

Treviso kicked off, and it became immediately apparent that conditions underfoot were not ideal, with several players slipping over.  The Saints attacked from the off, and were rewarded with a scrum inside the Treviso 22.  Awarded a penalty from the scrum, the Saints opted to kick to touch, and won the lineout through Lobbe.  Carlos Spencer put a grubber kick through the Treviso defence which was pounced on by, who else, Chris Ashton.  The Saints were ahead after just 5 minutes, with Reihana adding the extras to give a 7-0 scoreline.

The Treviso scrum was penalised once again inside their own 22 after some good work by Downey and Tiny nearly saw the Saints score their second.  The Saints chose to scrum again, and quick ball from Dickson set up Downey for try number two.  Once again Bruce was on form with the boot, and the Saints were up 14-0 after quarter of an hour.

A superb kick by Chris Ashton gave Treviso possession in a rather tricky position – a lineout inside their own 22.  They won the ball, but the Saints forced the kick to touch and were rewarded with a lineout of their own just inside the 22.  The lineout was untidy, and Treviso looked to have stolen it until somehow Scott Gray touched the ball down for the third try.  Reihana made it a perfect start when he added a tricky conversion from the touchline, making the score 21-0.

A knock-on by Jon Clarke just outside his own 22 made life tricky for the Saints for a while, but good pressure by Dickson at the base of the scrum disrupted the move and eventually Treviso were penalised.  Carlos launched the ball into touch, and the Saints duly won their own lineout.  The Saints moved the ball from one side of the field to the other but couldn’t find a way through, so Spencer changed tactics and kicked the ball across to the waiting…Nacho Lobbe.  He popped the ball up to Chris Ashton, who in turn found Dickson who forced his way across the line for the Saints’ fourth try.  Bruce missed the conversion, but the Saints were looking comfortable at 26-0 up after about 25 minutes.

Treviso had another opportunity to attack after the Saints were penalised for being offside at a lineout.  The Italians kicked to touch, and just about hung on to their own lineout ball.  They tried to spread the ball wide, but the last pass was poor and rolled into touch.  The Saints won the resulting lineout through Neil Best, and advanced upfield once more.  Their next try was something special.  Bruce Reihana received the ball inside the Saints half, and chipped ahead after breaking through a couple of tackles.  He followed his own kick and leapt on the ball for the Saints’ fifth try, duly adding the conversion to take the scoreline to 33-0. 

The half was drawing to a close, but the Saints had time for one more score.  A good lineout saw the ball in Carlos Spencer’s hands, and while his hands went one way, the ball went the other – into the grasp of Sean Lamont.  James Downey was the supporting player and scored his second try of the afternoon.  Reihana rounded off a near-perfect half with the boot, adding the conversion to take the score to 40-0 at half time.

Treviso made four changes at half time, and the Saints one – Stephen Myler coming on for Carlos Spencer.  It only took five minutes for the Saints to add another try.  Good work by Gray and Wilson (who looks quick enough to be a back) saw the Saints advance well into the Treviso half.  Paul Shields was stopped just short of the line, but Lee Dickson spotted a gap at the side of the ruck and darted over the line.  Reihana once again added the extras, putting the Saints 47-0 up. 

Wilson almost scored after another burst of pace, but the pass to him was judged forward.  He left the field soon after, replaced by Mark Hopley, while Alan Dickens came on for Lee Dickson.  Shortly after the replacements were made the Saints passed the 50 point mark thanks to Ashton’s second try of the afternoon.  Scott Gray made the break and passed out to Lobbe, who popped a lovely pass to Ashton.  Ashton found Best outside him, and the Irishman switched play back inside to Ashton who scampered over the line.  Bruce added the conversion from a tricky position, giving the Saints a 54-0 lead.

A couple of minutes later saw Dickens score try number nine.  Bruce and Jon Clarke attacked from deep, and the ball was kicked ahead for Ashton to chase.  He forced a mistake by the Treviso defence, and Dickens was the grateful recipient of the loose ball, crossing in the far corner.  Bruce missed the conversion, but the lead was still an impressive 59-0.

The next twenty minutes were rather uneventful as the rain fell harder.  Treviso kept at it, however, and opted to scrummage inside the Saints’ 22 instead of kicking to touch.  The attack came to nothing, however, as they were penalised for not releasing the ball and Myler cleared to halfway.

Ashton went off with ten minutes to go, and the Saints opted not to replace him after already using all of their substitutes.  The game ended on a familiar note, however, as the Saints were awarded a penalty inside the Treviso 22.  They chose the scrum, and were awarded another penalty as the Treviso back row became unbound.  The Saints went for the scrum again, and this time were awarded a penalty try.  Bruce Reihana finished the game with the conversion, taking the final score to 66-0.

Although this was undoubtedly a good performance from the Saints, just how good is difficult to tell – Treviso really offered very little in terms of opposition for the majority of the game.  The fact that the Saints scored 10 tries is perhaps of little consequence.  Other things, such as the performance of the back row, the irrepressible Nacho Lobbe, the Clarke/Downey centre partnership, and the fact that there are four excellent scrum halves to choose from are real positives to take into next week’s game. 

pics courtesy Simon Robinson 

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