It was one of those days when mistakes by us were punished by Wasps but when we picked up on their errors inevitably we gave back the advantage at the next point of contact. Lady luck was not on our side but then they say you make your own luck. A frustrating afternoon all round.
The honeymoon period is definitely over now for the new coaching setup and with just six Zurich Premiership games left and Saints still propping up the table we are now entering the most crucial couple of months for the club in the last decade.
There may be talks of teams from below not meeting the promotion criteria and rumours of an expanded ZP next season and beyond but I’m sure none of us want to see the Saints survive on a technicality, we want to be playing Premiership rugby next season because we got more points than someone else although as Budge says this week it would be nice to know where we stand on promotion/relegation.
There’s no doubting the lads have it in them to pull us out of the mire, after all in a one off game just nine weeks ago they beat arguably the best team in Europe, Toulouse, so the evidence is there. And I know it’s a well worn cliché but it really is a case now of taking one game at a time, each one a one off, each one a ‘cup final’. I get a feeling the big picture is getting to some people (and that includes us supporters). It could be affecting some players game too and of course relegation is a worry but it is all in our own hands and what better way to turn the tide than totally focus on just the one game and meet local rivals Tigers head on in the first of those ‘cup finals’ at the Gardens on Saturday.
LIKE THE VERY DEVIL HIMSELF
Saturday’s game is for many one of, if not the, highlight of the season. The East Midlands derby, Northampton Saints v Leicester Tigers and sadly for us top v bottom in the Zurich Premiership.
But forget league positions, recent results and relative form, we have all seen enough of these games over the years to know on the day just about anything can happen. Reputations sometimes count for nothing in these derby games.
I am sure a few of you remember the much vaunted ABC club, in their heyday being trundled backwards, over and then under the Saints pack in the opening minute of a game a few years ago at the Gardens and a young rookie Kiwi, Jason Chandler totally outsmarting Martin Johnson at every lineout on the same afternoon.
It’s again a time to stand up and be counted, to go that extra mile and for those with the history of the club at heart you don’t need much more incentive than to put one over the auld enemy. I am sure the history of the encounter will not be lost as a motivational tool to Coach Budge this week (after all who could ever forget ‘that’ try) and there is no doubt every man old and new will be drilled this week in the importance of the occasion.
So its time to yet again throw that kitchen sink at them and for eighty minutes treat those Tigers like the very devil himself. It being Martin Johnson’s very last game at the Gardens sometimes it might look like him too. Go on lads, believe!
FIXTURES, I KNOW BUT ITS JUST NOT FAIR
One downside to the East Midlands derby is that yet again for this fixture we see both sides depleted because the game is scheduled for an international weekend. Of course this time round it favours us with Saints losing just three players to Tigers dozen or so, and at the moment we need all the favours we can get, but across the board it is hardly fair on the competition as a whole and unbalances the fairness of it all. I talked a couple of weeks ago about the plan to move the Six Nations as an end of season block and this would seem an ideal solution giving national coaches time with their players totally away from the pull of their clubs and also in terms of the time of year an opportunity to properly assess players for the upcoming summer tours instead of the constant chopping and changing we see at present due to injuries at club games in weeks in between.
Of course room may have to be made in the season, scrapping the playoffs, which the vast majority of supporters are against would be a first step and maybe the Powergen Cup has lost its lustre in recent years and can be consigned to history too. While it is rumoured that a pre-season tournament between ZP sides South African provinces has been discussed what about replacing those SA teams with those from Division One so not only do the clubs lower down still get a chance to take on the big boys as they did in the Powergen but coaches also get a chance to look at the talent coming through these teams. Didn’t we sign Chris Budgen up under these very circumstances?
Now maybe these are just pipe dreams but it is clear something has to be done sooner rather than later. However, as always, I will not be holding my breath.
COTTONING ON........AND ON AND ON AND.......
On the subject of internationals it was not a complete surprise to see Fran Cotton come out of the shadows and complain, yet again, that England are losing games because of the clubs. Now poor old Fran is starting to sound like a broken record and some of his outpourings sound pretty baseless when you consider what has happened over the last 18 months.
Two years ago Cotton was singing from exactly the same songsheet “England have no chance in the World Cup, because of the club structure”. “The clubs are doing XYZ to hinder our plans”
Now either Fran has short term memory problems and he completely forgot that England won the RWC and one of the first people Sir Clive Woodward thanked were the clubs or he has some ulterior motive and again wants to force through his own personal vision of the future of the game in this country.
As someone mentioned this week, when England win the RFU management board, which includes Mr Cotton are keen to take the plaudits, ‘look how well we have done’ they will say, however when England lose, no its not their fault, it’s the scapegoat clubs. I’d suggest Mr Cotton starts looking a bit nearer to home for these perceived ills in the English game and started working together with people instead of continually attacking them when things don’t go his way.
Then perhaps the game could move forward.
The honeymoon period is definitely over now for the new coaching setup and with just six Zurich Premiership games left and Saints still propping up the table we are now entering the most crucial couple of months for the club in the last decade.
There may be talks of teams from below not meeting the promotion criteria and rumours of an expanded ZP next season and beyond but I’m sure none of us want to see the Saints survive on a technicality, we want to be playing Premiership rugby next season because we got more points than someone else although as Budge says this week it would be nice to know where we stand on promotion/relegation.
There’s no doubting the lads have it in them to pull us out of the mire, after all in a one off game just nine weeks ago they beat arguably the best team in Europe, Toulouse, so the evidence is there. And I know it’s a well worn cliché but it really is a case now of taking one game at a time, each one a one off, each one a ‘cup final’. I get a feeling the big picture is getting to some people (and that includes us supporters). It could be affecting some players game too and of course relegation is a worry but it is all in our own hands and what better way to turn the tide than totally focus on just the one game and meet local rivals Tigers head on in the first of those ‘cup finals’ at the Gardens on Saturday.
LIKE THE VERY DEVIL HIMSELF
Saturday’s game is for many one of, if not the, highlight of the season. The East Midlands derby, Northampton Saints v Leicester Tigers and sadly for us top v bottom in the Zurich Premiership.
But forget league positions, recent results and relative form, we have all seen enough of these games over the years to know on the day just about anything can happen. Reputations sometimes count for nothing in these derby games.
I am sure a few of you remember the much vaunted ABC club, in their heyday being trundled backwards, over and then under the Saints pack in the opening minute of a game a few years ago at the Gardens and a young rookie Kiwi, Jason Chandler totally outsmarting Martin Johnson at every lineout on the same afternoon.
It’s again a time to stand up and be counted, to go that extra mile and for those with the history of the club at heart you don’t need much more incentive than to put one over the auld enemy. I am sure the history of the encounter will not be lost as a motivational tool to Coach Budge this week (after all who could ever forget ‘that’ try) and there is no doubt every man old and new will be drilled this week in the importance of the occasion.
So its time to yet again throw that kitchen sink at them and for eighty minutes treat those Tigers like the very devil himself. It being Martin Johnson’s very last game at the Gardens sometimes it might look like him too. Go on lads, believe!
FIXTURES, I KNOW BUT ITS JUST NOT FAIR
One downside to the East Midlands derby is that yet again for this fixture we see both sides depleted because the game is scheduled for an international weekend. Of course this time round it favours us with Saints losing just three players to Tigers dozen or so, and at the moment we need all the favours we can get, but across the board it is hardly fair on the competition as a whole and unbalances the fairness of it all. I talked a couple of weeks ago about the plan to move the Six Nations as an end of season block and this would seem an ideal solution giving national coaches time with their players totally away from the pull of their clubs and also in terms of the time of year an opportunity to properly assess players for the upcoming summer tours instead of the constant chopping and changing we see at present due to injuries at club games in weeks in between.
Of course room may have to be made in the season, scrapping the playoffs, which the vast majority of supporters are against would be a first step and maybe the Powergen Cup has lost its lustre in recent years and can be consigned to history too. While it is rumoured that a pre-season tournament between ZP sides South African provinces has been discussed what about replacing those SA teams with those from Division One so not only do the clubs lower down still get a chance to take on the big boys as they did in the Powergen but coaches also get a chance to look at the talent coming through these teams. Didn’t we sign Chris Budgen up under these very circumstances?
Now maybe these are just pipe dreams but it is clear something has to be done sooner rather than later. However, as always, I will not be holding my breath.
COTTONING ON........AND ON AND ON AND.......
On the subject of internationals it was not a complete surprise to see Fran Cotton come out of the shadows and complain, yet again, that England are losing games because of the clubs. Now poor old Fran is starting to sound like a broken record and some of his outpourings sound pretty baseless when you consider what has happened over the last 18 months.
Two years ago Cotton was singing from exactly the same songsheet “England have no chance in the World Cup, because of the club structure”. “The clubs are doing XYZ to hinder our plans”
Now either Fran has short term memory problems and he completely forgot that England won the RWC and one of the first people Sir Clive Woodward thanked were the clubs or he has some ulterior motive and again wants to force through his own personal vision of the future of the game in this country.
As someone mentioned this week, when England win the RFU management board, which includes Mr Cotton are keen to take the plaudits, ‘look how well we have done’ they will say, however when England lose, no its not their fault, it’s the scapegoat clubs. I’d suggest Mr Cotton starts looking a bit nearer to home for these perceived ills in the English game and started working together with people instead of continually attacking them when things don’t go his way.
Then perhaps the game could move forward.
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