Northampton Saints 39- 31 Newcastle Falcons
“We're
at the top of the tree and we want to stay there.”
Stephen
Myler.
Talk
of the town this weekend was 'Mr Reliable’ Stephen Myler. He
served up a sensational performance on Friday night, opening the
score board with a penalty, then a converted try, making his mark by
topping 2000 points for the club; The 2nd
player to reach those dizzying heights at Saints, behind Paul
Grayson. An incredible achievement and what a prime asset he is to
Northampton.
“He's
been here longer than I have.” (Myler)
said Jim Mallinder.
 |
| The man in the spotlight, Stephen Myler Photo by Claire Jones, RedHatPhoto.com |
I
don't want to detract from Myler's milestone too much but I'm not
sure if Northampton Saints had too many Christmas Puddings over the
festive period? In any event, they looked like they'd rather be in
front of the telly watching the Darts at times on Friday night! And
they certainly came up against it when a well-drilled and fresh
feisty Falcons formation arrived at the Gardens to cause chaos ...
to quite a few people's surprise, including mine.
Who
would've guessed that the first Aviva Premiership game of 2015
would've proved so problematic for the Premiership Champions? Well
it did and then some.
Ian
Tempest refereed his first live Premiership game in front of a full
house of 13,362 at Franklin's Gardens, seeing in nine tries in total;
A real baptism of fire - and it would've been a case of 'No likey,
No lighty' for Tempest if this had been ‘Take Me Out’ with a
penalty try awarded to the home side that really caused controversy
for some in this tantalisingly try-tastic seventy point match. This
was a time when the TMO could and should have been consulted for
fairness because it is possible that Falcons were not instrumental in
bringing down the maul illegally or offside.
Newcastle Falcons pretty much threw everything they had at the Saints - yes even the kitchen sink - not forgetting the plug! They were clear and composed and I thought Alasena Tuilagi had a great game in the centre, bouldering through the Northampton defence and recycling the ball at pace with quick offloads and offering Chris Harris a chip to chase and enabling him to score the second try of the game; successfully converted by Tom Catterick.
 |
| Fancy footwork from Ken Pisi Photo by Claire Jones, RedHatPhoto.com |
Newcastle Falcons pretty much threw everything they had at the Saints - yes even the kitchen sink - not forgetting the plug! They were clear and composed and I thought Alasena Tuilagi had a great game in the centre, bouldering through the Northampton defence and recycling the ball at pace with quick offloads and offering Chris Harris a chip to chase and enabling him to score the second try of the game; successfully converted by Tom Catterick.
If
that wasn't testing enough, Kieran Brookes sizzled on this frosty
Friday night and gave his opposition a thumping upfront and then it
was Catterick who levelled the score board with a penalty. A cool
customer if ever there was one.
If
this wasn't game on, then I wouldn't know what was!
On
the attack, a pop pass extravaganza saw the Saints shuttling up into
opposition territory but a knock on saw them stumble short of the try
line and in true festive style, a pantomime groan swirled around the
stadium. But it didn't take long for George Pisi to rumble over and
the home crowd then heaved a pantomime sigh of relief. It was a case
of;
‘O
no he didn’t – O yes he did!’
The
first half really proved to pack a punch courtesy of the courageous
visitors and just short of the half time whistle, as Myler slotted
the conversion, Captain Phil Dowson shouted to his team about
discipline and the whole of Franklin's Gardens laughed, listening in
at this supposed 'quiet time' for the kicker.
 |
| Man of the Match Ben Foden on the attack Photo by Claire Jones, RedHatPhoto.com |
But
he was right, the Saints needed to focus and centre their energy on
composure.
HT
17-10
Unfortunately,
after Myler's boot added another three to the tally, a yellow card
for Falcons Josh Furno shook the side a little and Northampton went
on the rampage. Fleet of foot MOTM Foden set up Calum Clark superbly
as he skidded over the line and then came the bonus point
(controversial) penalty try from a rolling maul. Myler converted
both with ease.
But
all Saints’ hard work seemed to be for nothing, when three minutes
later, George McGuigan And Alex Tait each returned the favour and
scored two tires in very quick succession. Where were you Saints?
Catterick remained ultra composed, slotting both conversions with 14
minutes left to play, 32-24. A few Northampton fans were looking
worried. Even after Burrell boshed over to settle a few nerves,
Richard Mayhew reciprocated with three minutes left to play; tense is
an understatement.
 |
| Luther Burrell celebrating his try with Tom Stephenson Photo by Claire Jones, RedHatPhoto.com |
FT
39-31
As
the clock ticked down, it really felt like the game had gone down to
the wire with a whisper in it! Newcastle Falcons were not only
resilient, they were a match for Saints, digging deep. You can't
underestimate any side and this Northern team have more than turned a
corner. What a difference a season makes and their academy players
are really taking the field and proving worthy of their positions;
it's fantastic to see in the development of rugby.
Dean
Richards spoke about the development of his squad, after the game;
“The
quality of the youth we are bringing through and giving the
opportunity to, they're rewarding us ten fold really.”
“In
a lot of ways, if we sort oursevles out and tighten up a few bits n
pieces then we'll start winning a few more games.”
As
for Northampton, sometimes simple is safer and the back to basics
principal could've kept cohesion and structure in what was an
unsettled and agitated team at times.
Finally
I must say, Falcons looked threatening and that's the beauty of this
Premiership.
I'm
looking forward to round 13 already!