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| Northampton Saints 16 - 22 Leicester Tigers |
The
East Midlands derby has bragging rights like no other in the Aviva
Premiership and this colossal clash oozed rivalry with oh so very
evident vibes of revenge resonating around Franklins Gardens.
Northampton hadn’t triumphed over the Tigers since 2010.
With
a sell out crowd of 13,459, this was set to be a sensational
showdown. And as excited and faithful fans bantered and basked in
the sunshine, still the baying 'boos' resounded around the stadium
when referee Wayne Barnes stepped onto the pitch.
And
really where do I start in terms of talking points? The fact the
final whistle blew with 9 seconds still on the clock? Or the fact
the Leicester physio became entangled with the ball in those 9
seconds as Ben Foden politely tried to extricate it, so Northampton
could quite rightly take their line out? It seemed a frustrating,
bewildering and infuriating finish to say the least; and yet again,
one that will be talked about for years to come.
But
concentrating on the crux of the game, handbags came out early doors
- easy to guess the culprits - Dylan Hartley’s and Tom Young’s
un-saintly behaviour in my opinion! And with play being stopped
early on to investigate an alleged ‘biting’ incident, it was
anyone’s guess as to what else lay in store. Little did we know!!
Both
teams should have been in no doubt of the pure pace and punishing
physicality required here, but it was Tigers who emerged unleashed,
with crystal clear commitment, all guns blazing, like a crash of
rampaging rhinos wanting their dinner and although Will Hooley kicked
the first points onto the board, Tigers succeeded supremely in
dictating the dynamics early on; a try from Anthony Allen bagging
their initial booty.
As
Owen Williams shone, producing all the extras for Tigers and with
Stephen Myler out with a pulled hamstring, it fell to the boot of
Will Hooley to capitalise on Saints’ crucial penalty opportunities.
However, after his initial success, Hooley then failed to step up at
all and with Saints’ attacking line frequently falling foul of
Tigers’ defence; Northampton were reduced to scavenging for
territory.
Saints
looked like their get up and go had got up and gone. It reminded me
of England’s performance against France in the initial stages of
their RBS6 Nations match. After the last three weeks, a painful
sight for the fans faithful at Franklins Gardens
It
was three minutes to half time before Saints’ first possession in
Leicester's 22, with Kahn Fotuali'i darting through Tigers’ defence
from 5 metres out and pushing on through a tackle to make his mark;
and with Hooley’s boot failing to obey instructions again, the
score stood at 8 -13 at half time – not a convincingly comfortable
cushion for the Tigers to relax on in the break.
At
the restart, both fly halves ‘treated’ the crowd to the well
known game of kicking ‘ping pong’. Then with Owen Williams
securing another three points and a growing cushion for Tigers and
another attempt from Hooley going way wide, James Wilson finally
replaced him.
Play
had degenerated, producing a frantic and even more tense and scrappy
game, with Goneva going in with high tackles, on more than one
occasion.
The
last five minutes saw Saints find territory with galloping George
North's exceptional counter attack and it appeared a reinvigorated
Northampton had woken up.
But
was this too little - too late?
As
Ben Youngs and Vereniki Goneva were binned and Leicester were down to
just thirteen men, surely Northampton could score? With great team
work and a pass out wide to Ethan Waller, he did.
Saints’
momentum and intensity cranked up a couple of gears but as I alluded
to earlier, play was cut short when the ball rolled into touch. Nine
seconds showed on the clock in the stadium and to the crowd’s and
player’s amazement, referee Wayne Barnes blew the whistle for full
time.
Could
this game have been a very different story if Northampton's driving
maul had crossed that try line?
But
you play what's in front of you and for the most part, Leicester and
Owen Williams controlled this game beautifully and Will Hooley’s
boots failed to obey their master, big time.
When
I spoke to Jim Mallinder after the game, he quite rightly said,
'I
think Hooley in defence was magnificent, he put in some brilliant
tackles but his goal kicking wasn't quite as accurate as Williams.’
Another
very bad day at the office for the Saints with the full time score 16
– 22.
Northampton
must refocus and re-gel. I spoke with Courtney Lawes after the match
and from all the highs of the Six Nations he told me,
'We
need to stay confident in ourselves, we had a lot of changes coming
back into the team and that might have showed today; hopefully we'll
be able to regroup to get some good wins in towards the end of the
season.'
It
will be a devastating self-inflicted blow if the team can’t re-find
the passion and get back into a strong rhythm with winning ways.
Throwing
it all away should not be an option.
As
for Tigers - well they want it - they’ve made that more than clear.
Richard Cockerill told me,
'By
and large we controlled the game really well - I thought we were the
more positive team. I thought we were the better side throughout
really.'
Amongst
other things, they demonstrated some very creative and sophisticated
play in the first half so what else do they have in their arsenal?
The
Aviva Man of the Match and mine too was Ed Slater; his discipline,
composure and character showed on the pitch and when I spoke with him
after the game he said,
'As
a squad we've been strong against them the last three seasons, we
were confident we could come here and win.'
Going
forward, my questions would be:-
How
much of a part does the ‘man in the middle’ play? A very large
part – wouldn’t you say?
And
When
is ‘full-time’ not ‘full-time?’ Discuss.