November 28 2003

Northampton Saints - Thoughts from the Chron
By Chris Gleadell
November 28 2003

Well what a Saturday! It was certainly a good day to be an English Saint as both the lads at home and down under came up trumps to win crucial games. The Saints, after they had entered the general bonhomie of the day and gifted Leeds a ten point start.

The Saints struck back though with four tries, thirty one points, to secure that extra bonus point before half time. Racking up two more tries in the second half the Saints ran out easy winners to move into second place in the table. With the half way stage of the Zurich season coming next week we stand set fair with the lads returning from Australia but they are going to have a fight to get those Gold Black n Green shirts back. Bruce Reihana and Shane Drahm were again instrumental in the success but my man of the match was young Johnny Howard at scrumhalf. In my opinion he had his best game so far in a Saints shirt and increasingly shows great promise for the future.

So at the final whistle the Franklins faithful went home happy, the English contingent even more so. Our trio of Saints, Ben, Wally and Daws all played their parts in the mornings Rugby World Cup Final. Along with Grays, who sat this one out in the stand they really did their country and their club proud. People may go on and on about Jonny Wilko’s drop goal but it was engineered by one of our own Matt Dawson who, just like he did for the Lions in 97, is getting in the habit of throwing big match dummies and setting up game winning drop goals. On the day the only person to let us down was whoever organised the weather as it threw down bucketloads on both sides of the world but I’m sure most wandered off home on Saturday night a lot more wetter on the inside than out.
All in all though one hell of an unforgettable day that will live long in the memory.

LOOKING AHEAD

This Saturday the Saints travel down to Castle Grim (Kingsholm) for the return game against Gloucester. Unfortunately for most outsiders the home leg will be remembered for all the wrong reasons with the mass brawl and subsequent citings and appeals no doubt casting a shadow over this game. Those at the game, especially those of a Saintly persuasion, will remember it for other reasons such as the thirteen man rearguard action in the second half after some sublime rugby in the first. A repeat of that passion, without the handbags and shenanigans would go down a treat on a cold winters afternoon. Lets hope both sets of players, and which ever referee is appointed, puts the Gardens game behind them and start afresh.

The Saints Supporters Club are running coaches to Gloucester leaving Franklin’s Gardens (from the VIP car park) at 10am.
The prices are,Adults:£13, Children/Students/OAPs:£8
To book places please call Jean Collingwood on 01604 583283

For those letting the train take the strain you can travel via Birmingham in just over two hours at a cost of around £24 return.

STATS

The six tries against Leeds takes our tally up to 30 in the Zurich Premiership, an average of three a game so far while we are averaging 30 points each ZP outing. That’s quite a contrast from last season where we averaged just 23 points per game, so as for scoring we are 23% up so far this term. Leading the way are both Bruce and Shane who lead the Zurich try scoring and points tally tables respectively. The downside is we have conceded an average of 24 points per game where last season the deficit was just 17 per game. So if we could just marry last years defence to this years attack we would have each season sewn up by Christmas. But would it be as exciting? I somehow doubt it.

EUROPE

Well at last the governing body of the Heineken Cup, the ERC, has released the times and dates of the first four rounds of this seasons competition. Is it just me or was leaving the bidding for the television rights till the last minute not envisioned to cause problems?
An old remark from Keith Barwell about Nigel and Rupert at the RFU and breweries comes to mind.
As always it seems that with all the sports governing bodies the people that pay their cash week in week out are the last consideration when it comes to organising things. It seems it is always the TV people that call the shots. Of course the clubs hands are tied on these matters too and it must be as frustrating for them as it is us trying to organise travel, accommodation (and for us time off work) at shorter and shorter notice.
The Saints have not suffered too badly this time round with just the Llanelli away game being switched to a Friday for television, which under the old BBC deal it probably would have been anyway, but other clubs supporters have found their games switched to late Sunday afternoon which has caused extra expense and disruption. Indeed this week Ulster even issued an apology to their own and Tigers supporters on the moving of their game from the original Friday night to Sunday lunchtime.
Prior warning and advanced notice could have solved this inconvenience, but no as with everything it’s a last minute rush where the European Cup is concerned.
Now that Sky have secured the rights for three years and we know all European Cup qualifiers when the French season finishes in June, do you think they could get their house in order a lot earlier next year? I’m not holding my breath though.

Now don’t get me wrong I’m quite glad that Sky have secured the rights to the Heineken Cup.
Apart from the regional stations in Wales and Northern Ireland I have never thought that the BBC has done it justice. How often does a pulsating game get to half time and they have to rush off for live shove ha’penny results from Nuneaton or at final whistle, rather than post match reaction straight to incoming football reports with Ron Manager pontificating about his teams 0-0 draw with Crewe Alexandra in Third Division North?

One thing is sure with Sky, they will get their full moneys worth out of the deal and have schedules with around thirteen hours of Heineken Cup rugby viewing each weekend, something that the BBC quite simply could not do. Now I know Rupert Murdoch is not everybody’s cup of tea and you do have to pay through your teeth for the pleasure but I’m looking forward to all this extra coverage. My only problem it seems will be trying to get out the armchair once it all ends each Sunday night.

November 20 2003

Northampton Saints - Thoughts from the Chron
By Chris Gleadell
November 20 2003

Well we can only look for some silver lining in that grey cloud this week as the Saints mini slump continues with Saturday’s 42-13 loss at the 'Wreck' to Bath in the Powergen Cup. But hey, look on the bright side.

You will not have to scramble around to get tickets for your thirty once a year ‘friends and acquaintances’ who only seem to know you when Saints get to a final. You will not have to worry about being stuck on a boiling hot coach on the North Circular for two hours with kick-off rapidly approaching and no sign of Twickers on the horizon. And lastly you will not have to suffer the bitter disappointment of the last two visits to HQ when we were outplayed by Irish and Glos.

Yes your right, I’m clutching at straws. It’s no consolation at all is it? We were getting rather used to our annual jaunt down to Twickenham despite our run of results hoping that one day our luck would change but alas this season it’s not to be.

As Wayne Smith said post match you could not fault the lads effort but our attack, which had up to Saturday scored 24 tries in nine outings, could not unlock a Bath defence that was kept pinned in its twenty two for long periods of the game without breaking. Unfortunately pressure does not win you games, points do, and to add insult to injury Bath broke away to score three times while we were throwing everything at their line.

However it could have been such a different story. At halftime a missed Shane Drahm penalty and a throwaway interception try was all that separated two very evenly matched sides. Had we gone in at the break 9-9 Bruce Reihana’s try after the restart could have been the platform we needed but all credit to Bath they played with a confidence that reflects their league position and they rode out the storm and secured a place in the last eight running away with it at the end. They go into the hat for the last eight while we just have a few free Saturdays to look forward to. But then, there is always Europe…….

CHOO CHOO

Now I don’t know if the BBC are ever planning to do another series of ‘Great Train Journeys of the World’ but if they are can I suggest they consider the Bath to Northampton ‘Von Robson’s Express’ route for one programme? Like a few hundred others I travelled down to the West Country on Saturday on the clubs chartered train and despite a few hiccups, like broken down locomotives and a tour of Birmingham football grounds along the way, our group of eight, including a chap from Canada going to his first game of rugby, thoroughly enjoyed the day (apart from the result of course). Now I understand some suffered on the return route in carriages with no heat or light and were down to their last shared Jaffa cake on reaching Northampton, only good old Dunkirk spirit getting them through the journey. However I’m sure these are problems that the club can iron out with the charter company because it would be a shame to see this initiative fold after just one bad experience. Indeed the only thing missing for me while I lunched on smoke salmon and Alsace beer was views of Mount Fuji and wildebeest wandering down to the waterholes so if anyone from the Beeb is reading this forget Michael Palin and Clive Anderson, give me a call!

LOOKING FORWARD

Saturday sees the visit of Phil Davies’s Leeds side, one of the surprise packages of last season. Despite being most people’s dead certs for relegation after finishing bottom of the pile the previous term, and after Rotherham were denied promotion to the top flight, the Tykes secured fifth place in the table and a place in the Heineken Cup playing some good enterprising rugby. Indeed the Leeds v Saints game up in Yorkshire was Tykes first win over the us since they came into being with the amalgamation of the Headingley and Roundhay clubs in 1991. Davies made some astute signings over the summer in the likes of Phil Christophers and Aaron Persico but he surprisingly let two of last years outstanding players George Harder and Zak Feanauti move on to pastures new and their season has failed to ignite yet. I’m sure most of you remember the 73-35 cup win a couple of seasons back, well I cannot see that happening again but I would take the Saints to get things back on track on home soil to restore the Franklins faith. It will however be interesting to see what effect a little game taking place down under in the morning has on proceedings.

CLIVES MASTERPLAN

So Clive Woodward’s master plan has almost paid off. Fooling the whole rugby world that England had peaked too early and were scraping past teams that would have been considered mere steeping stones pre RWC (and what a convincing job they did) they line up on Saturday against Australia in the World Cup Final. Now all being well three Saints, Wally, Ben and Daws, should be in the starting lineup so there is a lot of local as well as national pride at stake. With a 9:00am kick-off it is going to be a long, long day however the club will be opening the club bars including the ‘Rodbar’ at 8:30 so you can all watch it on the large screens.

For those that can’t make the Gardens there are around 10,000 (and counting) special licences for pubs and clubs up and down the country so you should all be able to see it somewhere if you want to leave the comfort of your own armchair. Everywhere is bound to be busy as the whole of the English nation, and his brother, come out of the woodwork as closet rugby fans this week cheering on ‘Mark Dawson, Len Cohen and Steve Tompkins’ to hopefully victory. Apologies to all our ‘foreign’ readers but C’MON ENGLAND!!!.

XMAS ALREADY

The Saints Supporters Club are holding their 8th Annual Free Christmas Draw on Friday 29th November at 7.30 pm, in the Sturtridge Pavillion. The draw is totally free to all SSC members but fear not all non members can join up on the night. There are plenty of prizes on offer, including a top prize of £200 up for grabs. You must however be there to stand a chance of winning in other words you gotta be in it to win it! The SSC are hoping there may even be a player or two in attendance to dish out the prizes. So be there!

November 14 2003

Northampton Saints - Thoughts from the Chron
By Chris Gleadell
November 14 2003

Well that was certainly a case of after the Lord Mayors Show on Saturday as the Saints turned up at the Stoop in body but not mind or spirit to be taken apart by a Quins side that played well but were flattered by Saints inability to get out of first gear till the final few minutes of the game.

We conceded a couple of well crafted but soft tries and there did not appear to be much shape to our game from the off. Frustratingly when we did make room to spin the ball wide it would be three forwards waiting in the wings rather than our rapier backs who have run in a hatful already this season. All in all a very disappointing afternoon that left you feeling hollow and somewhat depressed aftfer the high expectations following last weeks performance.

Now all this is hopefully down (fingers crossed) to a hangover of the previous two weeks rousing wins over Tigers and Gloucester. Some people’s minds could have been on disciplinary matters both internally and externally that must have disrupted the squad’s week but on Saturday we simply were not even at the races. The mindset looked all wrong and maybe it was the Gloucester shadow still looming large and the lads just found it hard to raise their game both physically and mentally after last weeks heroics.

However consistency is the key if you are going to win any silverware and I’m sure Wayne Smith and his team will be delving deep this week to look for the answers but it must be of some concern that we can play like world beaters with thirteen men one week then barely get out of the starting blocks with a full battalion seven days later. I hope the comment I heard from a fellow Saint on leaving the Stoop, that “We’re just the same old inconsistent Northampton” is proved wrong by seasons end. Time, as always, will tell but lets not hit any panic button yet.

LOOKING AHEAD

Was it just me or did we supporters give a below par performance on Saturday too? Granted, there was not a lot to cheer on the pitch but I thought our efforts after last week were a bit jaded too. I know it’s a bit different in the enclosed cauldron of the Gardens but even at the windswept open stands at the Stoop (where you can’t even see Concorde coming in to land anymore) we could not raise more than the odd muted Oh Wendy, by half time we had even given up on them. However Saturday gives us a chance to put that all right.

This weekend we visit Bath for the second time this season in the Powergen Cup and it is the clubs intention to get 1,000 of us down there for the game at the ‘Wreck’. Smudger and Allan Robson put their heads together after the Gloucester game and agreed the Gold, Black and Green hordes can travel to the West Country on the clubs chartered train (dubbed Von Robson’s Express) at a reduced price of £10 standard and £20 in the posh seats. So its party time all the way and hopefully a bigger party all the way home. Call 01604 581000 for further details.

For those not wanting to let the train take the strain the Saints Supporters Club are running coaches leaving the Gardens (from the VIP car park) at 9am. Adults: £13, Children/Students/OAPs: £8
call Jean Collingwood on 01604 583283 for details.

As for the game itself it would be good to put one over this years surprise Zurich high flyers after the dismal game down there in September when Saints were caught cold from the off. We will of course travel down as underdogs with their confidence sky high after their recent run. We could however just catch them on the hop.
If it is anything like last years cup game down there we are in for a good day out. So no excuses get yourself down there and make some noise. Might just be the day for a Saints smash and grab raid, or should that be a great train robbery?

BLAIR SWANNELL

Im mentioning Edgar Mobbs in the last couple of weeks I have been reminded of another rather more eccentric Saint and dual international who lost his life in the First World War. Blair Swannell was born in Weston Underwood, near Olney in 1876. In eight years between 1896 and 1904 he played 116 games for the Saints scoring 16 tries. He was an ‘uncompromising forward’ and soon came to the notice of selectors for the Lions, touring Australia and New Zealand in 1899 and 1904. He stayed on Down Under and even played a game for Australia against the famous 1905 All Blacks the following year, the same team that played Northampton at the Gardens later that season.

Now why eccentric I here you ask, well it seems, and I quote from a NZ journal of the day “ (Swannell) being a notoriously dirty player, stood apart from everyone else because his personal hygiene left a lot to be desired. His unsavoury play and unusual hygiene, always turning up to club matches in a filthy, once-white sweater, with badges and dates of all countries he represented on it. His prized possession was an also once-white pair of football breeches, which he refused to wash, and which he wore in every match.”

Now despite all this Blair made the rank of Major in the Australian army and led his own company up the Gallopoli beaches. He died in the assault at Bloody Angle and is buried nearby. It was said of him, shortly before the Battle of Gallipoli began, “he realised he would play this game as he had played Rugby football…with his whole heart”



CONSTABLE SPREADERS & LANDER of HMPS

It seems that Tony Spreadbury is maybe the only Englishman appreciated down under during the World Cup. the ‘Australian’ daily paper saying "Spreadbury possessed that familiar stern-but-fair manner you might expect from the local bobby in an episode of All Creatures Great And Small.”
Now this got me thinking what other refs could we shift sideways into the entertainment world. Well of course Ed Morrison is a dead ringer for Father Ted and Tom & Barbara & Jerry & Margot enjoy the Goodliffe (oh come on, think about it). We could even pass our old pal Ashley Rowden off as the housewifes favourite Alan Titchmarsh but theres one image I cannot get out of my mind. Steve Lander as Mr Mckay from Porridge. The facial expressions, manner and over officiousness is almost uncanny.

November 7 2003

Northampton Saints - Thoughts from the Chron
By Chris Gleadell
November 7 2003

Well we are finally hitting the heights as the season continued on an ever increasing upward curve after the 30-17, technical knockout, two falls and a submission victory over Gloucester at the Gardens on Saturday.

It was a game that had just about everything but the kitchen sink (although if Glos could have found one I’m sure they would have chucked it at Shane Drahm).

As Jimmy Greaves might have said a decade ago ‘It was a game of two halves Saints’. The first we played some great creative rugby really taking it to Glos from the off. The second we defended like demons.

Now I’m pretty sure the news from the Gloucester Friday evening newspaper had reached Saintly ears by Saturday morning given the way the first try was scored. Andy Hazell had been crowing in print about how he and his teammates were coming to the Gardens to ‘push the Saints all over the park’. Well not quite Andy mate! The Saints pack scored a peach of a try from a driving maul through Chris Budgen (now sponsored by ComeOnYouSaints.Com) that, for want of a better phrase, proved that they really don’t like it up em!

I don’t think I have ever seen the forwards celebrate a try with such enthusiasm before and the crowd almost raised the roof but were only just warming up for what was to come.

You can read the whys and wherefores of the brawl elsewhere and no doubt will for weeks to come but, though not condoning violence on the pitch, I really though it was a defining moment for our team. One in all in, everyone there to help his fellow Saint. As a unit I think all the lads took a step forward and grew as a squad.

The sending off of Sharky Robinson just bonded that Gold Black n Green resolve further and a rearguard action in the second half kept Gloucester at bay by hook or by crook as the clock wound down.

Now I don’t want to get all Shakespearian on you but I know the squad are keen to foster the Band of Brothers tag, well this was true Agincourt stuff with our heavily outnumbered troops using superior guile and wit to steal the day. As Bill the Bard said ‘we'll remember, with advantages, what feats we did that day’. I’m sure many of the team on Saturday will. There is talk already from some fans of that rolling maul having started outside the county boundaries but who would begrudge the players a few embellishments on the truth as the years go by after Saturdays performance?

The Gardens crowd of course played a major part in the victory too. At the end of eighty minutes the rounds of ‘Oh Wendys’ were probably the loudest in the last few seasons with everyone out their seats to celebrate a great victory.
‘Hurricane’ Blowers, who got a standing ovation for getting a yellow card (it was that kind of day) later went out of his way to praise the Franklins Faithful, top man. All in all it was one of the all time great memorable days at the Gardens. And all this on All Saints Day too! I’m starting to think someone up there likes us?



LOOKING AHEAD

On Saturday it’s once more unto the breach dear friends, once more with the trip to Harlequins. The fancy dans of the English game have gone through somewhat of an image change in recent years. Gone are the days when a Quins score was greeted by a smattering of polite applause from their blazered members. Now they have their very own set of ‘elite’ supporters, the Diamond Geezers, who have actually been known to cheer the odd try or two. You may have seen them in their multicheck trousers (looking somewhat like escapees from the Crossroad Motel kitchens) but they do add to the occasion and seeing as Quins have the second best bar in the league, and a team going well, it should be a good day out. The Saints Supporters Club are running coaches to the Stoop leaving the Gardens (from the VIP car park) at 11:30am, prices are, Adults: £11, Children/Students/OAPs: £7. Call Jean Collingwood on 01604 583283 for details. For those travelling by train be warned that after eight in the evening it is buses on the route north from Euston. The alternate route changing at Watford and Willseden looks the better and quicker option. See you there!

MORE ON EDGAR MOBBS

I got more feedback on last weeks article on Edgar Mobbs than any other I have written for the Chron. It seems he is still a very popular figure at the club which got me thinking, why isn’t there a permanent memorial to probably one of the greatest Saints at the club? Now I know in their time Messrs Sturtridge, Gordon and Rodber did sterling service for the club but surely there should be something of a more permanent nature at the Gardens to a man that Captained both Saints and England then gave his life for his country? Yes there’s the once a year game against the BaaBaas and the memorial in town but wouldn’t something more concrete in Edgar Mobbs name at the Gardens just add more to the club itself. Perhaps a renaming of the South Stand to the Mobbs if it is not getting a sponsor or maybe even a fund where we could all contribute so a permanent statue could be erected to the great man whilst not taking anything away from the focus and importance of the main pitch side war memorial itself. I would be interested to hear your views on this.

BLACK GREEN AND GOLD

A reader pulled me up last week for calling our colours Gold Black and Green rather than the carved in stone Black Green and Gold. Now I can assure you all it was no mistake or indeed no intended insult to tradition (perish the thought) but being a child of the Gordon Terrace the former is always the one that sticks in my mind from ‘We all follow the Gold Black and
Green’, to the tune of Yellow Submarine, from the old GT choir and although I know I’ll pay the price in the afterlife that’s the ways its going to stay, sorry folks. While on the subject of songs its good to hear a few variants coming into to play from various parts of the ground but don’t you think that signing ‘Are you Leicester in disguise?’ to Gloucester on Saturday was just a touch cruel?

No me neither!

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