Sarries ‘Glenda’ Jackson punted an injury time penalty to leave Saints with a losing bonus point and with other results going against us, a drop to the bottom of the Zurich Premiership table.
Whilst we may have struggled in the scrum our lineout look assured and looking round the team as a whole you could not fault one player as having an off day. A vastly improved Sarries, who lets not forget demolished Newcastle last week, edged it by the width of a crossbar from Shane Drams long range last gasp kick, so overall performance wise it still looks like we are still getting there. Indeed, if you had gone and watched Saturday’s game as a neutral you would have certainly got your moneys worth and had an enjoyable afternoon. Unfortunately for those of us with an emotional attachment victory is paramount at the moment.
However with a tough trip on the road starting at Wycombe Wasps a week on Sunday our position is starting to look a touch precarious and whilst the talk from the club is quite rightly that there will be no panic it is a cause for concern. But then that’s the vagaries of sport for you, up flying high one season then scrapping it out at the bottom the next. Of course we would all like Saints to be at the other end of the table but its times like this that people stand up and be counted and there’s nothing better for character building than a backs to the wall battle. One thing is for sure, when the good times return, and return they will, experiencing times like this makes it all the sweeter.
VIVA EL BUDGE
(It should be noted that this was written before the board meeting which appointed budge, an edited version appeared in the newspaper.)
For me one man has certainly stood up as one of those to be counted, Budge Pountney. Budge wears his heart on his sleeve and is a Saintsman through and through, whats more he speaks his mind and tells as he sees – there are certain similarities with our chairman there. This may of course get him in hot water from time to time but you know where you stand the guy. I somehow feel you wouldn’t get soundbites like ‘it’s a marathon not a sprint’ after a string of defeats as we did from the previous coach nor would he blame the bounce of the ball. Budge, just as he did in his programme notes on Saturday would hold his hands up and say, yes we got it wrong.
There’s no doubt, despite our league position, that there has been improvement on the playing front since Budge and Paul Grayson stepped up. Perhaps even more importantly there’s been a return of that pride in the jersey, a bit of belief and passion and the guys looking like they are once more playing for each like Wayne Smiths band of brothers. That’s why I believe Budge, with Grayse as his assistant, should be given the job on a permanent basis.
I’ll hold my hands up I thought that appointing the pair was at the time a wrong decision given their age and experience and I thought the pressure might damage any future coaching aspiration the pair have but I’ve been converted by what I have seen and that view has been turned on its head. Yes they may be raw and not yet possess all the technical or diplomatic knowledge that goes with the job and they may need an old head to act as a mentor alongside (but not above) them for the first year or so, but if the club is looking to build for the future what better way to build those foundations than on a pair who have the traditions and values of the Saints engrained in them? By the time you read this a decision may have already been made on the coaching position at the Gardens, I just hoped they have plumped for Anthony Pountney.
A CHEAT BY ANY OTHER NAME?
There were allegations and counter allegations being thrown around the Gardens on Saturday. I can’t comment about what happened around the tunnel area as I didn’t see it and I’ve heard enough versions of events and alledged incidents to fill six columns, some I am sure without a grain of truth in them, so I’ll leave that one to the powers that be but one series of events in front of the Tetleys Stand really got my goat.
Now Sarries have obviously done their homework on the Saints and know that players, especially Bruce Reihana, more often than not like to take the quick throw for a restart if the chance is on. So what did Sarries do to counter this measure? Well its quite simple, they dress someone up as a water carrier and give him a crate of bottles and position him
at Saints end of the pitch, no not Sarries end where the players he is supposed to keep watered are, the Saints end because that’s where he carries out his real job. And lo and behold what happens when the ball goes out and there is no Saracen to prevent the quick throw, well its quite simple, he dumps the crate and sprints to the ball to interfere with the throw thus stopping a potential attack stone dead and giving Sarries territorial advantage.
Now lets be quite plain about this, this guy is nothing to do with the game but he did this on a dozen or more occasions and a week after we quite rightly vilified Mark Regans antics should not Saracens be equally criticised for employing this most blatant tactic with a 16th man, at least Regan was a playing member of his team not an interloper interfering with a game which in all probability he could affect as a result. Now I know the coaching team at Sarries will think this is an awfully clever trick and they think its being professional and giving their team an edge but any fair minded person knows what it is, its plain and simple, its downright cheating. The game used to be about two sets of fifteen guys battling out for supremacy, it would be great to get back to that without some of the shenanigans we saw on Saturday but while certain characters in the game can stoop so low and cheat in this way they will push those boundaries further. It used to be called ungentlemanly conduct, it seems though that we are not dealing with gentleman anymore nor those that believe in fair play. The sooner the authorities stamp this out the better.
Whilst we may have struggled in the scrum our lineout look assured and looking round the team as a whole you could not fault one player as having an off day. A vastly improved Sarries, who lets not forget demolished Newcastle last week, edged it by the width of a crossbar from Shane Drams long range last gasp kick, so overall performance wise it still looks like we are still getting there. Indeed, if you had gone and watched Saturday’s game as a neutral you would have certainly got your moneys worth and had an enjoyable afternoon. Unfortunately for those of us with an emotional attachment victory is paramount at the moment.
However with a tough trip on the road starting at Wycombe Wasps a week on Sunday our position is starting to look a touch precarious and whilst the talk from the club is quite rightly that there will be no panic it is a cause for concern. But then that’s the vagaries of sport for you, up flying high one season then scrapping it out at the bottom the next. Of course we would all like Saints to be at the other end of the table but its times like this that people stand up and be counted and there’s nothing better for character building than a backs to the wall battle. One thing is for sure, when the good times return, and return they will, experiencing times like this makes it all the sweeter.
VIVA EL BUDGE
(It should be noted that this was written before the board meeting which appointed budge, an edited version appeared in the newspaper.)
For me one man has certainly stood up as one of those to be counted, Budge Pountney. Budge wears his heart on his sleeve and is a Saintsman through and through, whats more he speaks his mind and tells as he sees – there are certain similarities with our chairman there. This may of course get him in hot water from time to time but you know where you stand the guy. I somehow feel you wouldn’t get soundbites like ‘it’s a marathon not a sprint’ after a string of defeats as we did from the previous coach nor would he blame the bounce of the ball. Budge, just as he did in his programme notes on Saturday would hold his hands up and say, yes we got it wrong.
There’s no doubt, despite our league position, that there has been improvement on the playing front since Budge and Paul Grayson stepped up. Perhaps even more importantly there’s been a return of that pride in the jersey, a bit of belief and passion and the guys looking like they are once more playing for each like Wayne Smiths band of brothers. That’s why I believe Budge, with Grayse as his assistant, should be given the job on a permanent basis.
I’ll hold my hands up I thought that appointing the pair was at the time a wrong decision given their age and experience and I thought the pressure might damage any future coaching aspiration the pair have but I’ve been converted by what I have seen and that view has been turned on its head. Yes they may be raw and not yet possess all the technical or diplomatic knowledge that goes with the job and they may need an old head to act as a mentor alongside (but not above) them for the first year or so, but if the club is looking to build for the future what better way to build those foundations than on a pair who have the traditions and values of the Saints engrained in them? By the time you read this a decision may have already been made on the coaching position at the Gardens, I just hoped they have plumped for Anthony Pountney.
A CHEAT BY ANY OTHER NAME?
There were allegations and counter allegations being thrown around the Gardens on Saturday. I can’t comment about what happened around the tunnel area as I didn’t see it and I’ve heard enough versions of events and alledged incidents to fill six columns, some I am sure without a grain of truth in them, so I’ll leave that one to the powers that be but one series of events in front of the Tetleys Stand really got my goat.
Now Sarries have obviously done their homework on the Saints and know that players, especially Bruce Reihana, more often than not like to take the quick throw for a restart if the chance is on. So what did Sarries do to counter this measure? Well its quite simple, they dress someone up as a water carrier and give him a crate of bottles and position him
at Saints end of the pitch, no not Sarries end where the players he is supposed to keep watered are, the Saints end because that’s where he carries out his real job. And lo and behold what happens when the ball goes out and there is no Saracen to prevent the quick throw, well its quite simple, he dumps the crate and sprints to the ball to interfere with the throw thus stopping a potential attack stone dead and giving Sarries territorial advantage.
Now lets be quite plain about this, this guy is nothing to do with the game but he did this on a dozen or more occasions and a week after we quite rightly vilified Mark Regans antics should not Saracens be equally criticised for employing this most blatant tactic with a 16th man, at least Regan was a playing member of his team not an interloper interfering with a game which in all probability he could affect as a result. Now I know the coaching team at Sarries will think this is an awfully clever trick and they think its being professional and giving their team an edge but any fair minded person knows what it is, its plain and simple, its downright cheating. The game used to be about two sets of fifteen guys battling out for supremacy, it would be great to get back to that without some of the shenanigans we saw on Saturday but while certain characters in the game can stoop so low and cheat in this way they will push those boundaries further. It used to be called ungentlemanly conduct, it seems though that we are not dealing with gentleman anymore nor those that believe in fair play. The sooner the authorities stamp this out the better.
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