Although we did not play anywhere near what could be described as a good performance, we stuck at it till the bitter end and ground out the victory something I’m not too sure we would have done in the Solomons era.
So whilst the coaching team readily admit that we are “technically nowhere near where we want to be” it is not all gloom and doom on the horizon. Every cloud has a silver lining and whilst we have an injury list as long as your arm several players have stepped up from the academy to stake their claim and though things may not be too bright at the moment the future certainly looks assured should these youngsters continue to progress. Despite the loss at Sale on Boxing Day I thought there was no disgrace in the result given they are table toppers and the number of players we had out.
However the present is still far from certain and we sit just one place off the bottom albeit with a little bit of a breathing space over last placed Leeds, making the end of month games between the clubs at the Gardens a game of massive proportions for both teams. However we can ease ourselves a little clearer before that date starting with the trip down to Worcester on Saturday.
Saturdays visit to Sixways just shows how much the game has changed in the last couple of seasons. When Worcester came into the Zurich Premiership at the start of last season it was predicted by all and sundry (including myself) that they would just be another bunch of whipping boys and be well adrift by Christmas. To their credit the chaps from Wuss fought tooth and nail all the way last term and secured their future in the newly named Guinness Premiership with a last gasp win over the Saints in the final game of the season. This season they have stepped up once more and sit on the edge of Heineken Cup qualification.however in the last couple of weeks things have not gone all their way with losses at Newcastle and a home hammering by lowly Bath. It may of course just be a blip but what better time to play the Warrors knowing that they are on a low and that we won down there at a canter in the Powergen Cup earlier this season.
It is sure to be a tough one, Worcester’s wounded pride and us out to get anything we can to pull us clear of the mire. With luck on the injury front we may just have a couple of key players back and it could go down to the wire.
What better way to wash away those post Christmas blues. See you there.
EN FRANCE
Yet again the supporters did us proud again out in France with (by my estimates) around six hundred making the journey out to France to see the lads match our efforts on the windswept Narbonne turf to come away with a well earned victory. I don’t think I have ever watched a game in such windy conditions, indeed it was even hard at times to look directly into it such was the winds force as balls kicked to corners veered near the posts and vice versa.
The team however did not let it daunt them and for once everything clicked into place playing the French at their own game and muscling them off the park.
Whilst in the local papers the next day there was the odd grumbling about refereeing (just goes to show how close the French and English really are eh?) the Narbonne coach admitted that there was no way they could deal with the Saints superior technique and above all physique. For a team that has built its reputation on forward power in recent years that was somewhat of a compliment.
The compliments were not just reserved for the team though, a local bar owner told us on Sunday morning that the support was a real credit to the club. Not only did the owner of The Globe, an ex-pat Australian former Narbonne player praise the behaviour and friendliness of both the support and the first team squad that frequented his establishment on Friday night mingling, singing and dancing with locals (and strangely Santa and his dozen elves) but he was over the moon that he had had the biggest nights takings in the years he had owned the bar with not one hint of trouble, just everyone out to enjoy themselves. Such was he enamoured with the Saints he promised that if we got him a shirt it would replace the Leicester one in pride of place over the bar and he said the doors would always be open to Northampton people.
On Saturday our group travelled down to Perpignan for the day to see the Catalan side play Leeds in the Heineken Cup. Numbers were swelled with the official Saints party staying in the town and it was somewhat surreal sitting in a bar near the ground watching Saint after Saint traipsing past to the stadium. When Phil Davies and his team went by in the Leeds team bus some looked quite bemused as they saw a window full of people in Saints shirts, some wearing Perpignan scarves etc. The locals were even more bemused at these people in Gold, Black & Green but there were plenty of handshakes and greeting when they heard where we came from. We quickly learnt that the phrase, however bad the translation “Je suis Northampton, ce soir Catalan” earned us whole bunches of new friends. At a guess there was around double the number of Saints supporters at the game than Leeds but to their credit the small band of Tykes sang from start to finish and their team did them proud battling all the way and almost stealing a famous victory at the end.
So whilst the coaching team readily admit that we are “technically nowhere near where we want to be” it is not all gloom and doom on the horizon. Every cloud has a silver lining and whilst we have an injury list as long as your arm several players have stepped up from the academy to stake their claim and though things may not be too bright at the moment the future certainly looks assured should these youngsters continue to progress. Despite the loss at Sale on Boxing Day I thought there was no disgrace in the result given they are table toppers and the number of players we had out.
However the present is still far from certain and we sit just one place off the bottom albeit with a little bit of a breathing space over last placed Leeds, making the end of month games between the clubs at the Gardens a game of massive proportions for both teams. However we can ease ourselves a little clearer before that date starting with the trip down to Worcester on Saturday.
Saturdays visit to Sixways just shows how much the game has changed in the last couple of seasons. When Worcester came into the Zurich Premiership at the start of last season it was predicted by all and sundry (including myself) that they would just be another bunch of whipping boys and be well adrift by Christmas. To their credit the chaps from Wuss fought tooth and nail all the way last term and secured their future in the newly named Guinness Premiership with a last gasp win over the Saints in the final game of the season. This season they have stepped up once more and sit on the edge of Heineken Cup qualification.however in the last couple of weeks things have not gone all their way with losses at Newcastle and a home hammering by lowly Bath. It may of course just be a blip but what better time to play the Warrors knowing that they are on a low and that we won down there at a canter in the Powergen Cup earlier this season.
It is sure to be a tough one, Worcester’s wounded pride and us out to get anything we can to pull us clear of the mire. With luck on the injury front we may just have a couple of key players back and it could go down to the wire.
What better way to wash away those post Christmas blues. See you there.
EN FRANCE
Yet again the supporters did us proud again out in France with (by my estimates) around six hundred making the journey out to France to see the lads match our efforts on the windswept Narbonne turf to come away with a well earned victory. I don’t think I have ever watched a game in such windy conditions, indeed it was even hard at times to look directly into it such was the winds force as balls kicked to corners veered near the posts and vice versa.
The team however did not let it daunt them and for once everything clicked into place playing the French at their own game and muscling them off the park.
Whilst in the local papers the next day there was the odd grumbling about refereeing (just goes to show how close the French and English really are eh?) the Narbonne coach admitted that there was no way they could deal with the Saints superior technique and above all physique. For a team that has built its reputation on forward power in recent years that was somewhat of a compliment.
The compliments were not just reserved for the team though, a local bar owner told us on Sunday morning that the support was a real credit to the club. Not only did the owner of The Globe, an ex-pat Australian former Narbonne player praise the behaviour and friendliness of both the support and the first team squad that frequented his establishment on Friday night mingling, singing and dancing with locals (and strangely Santa and his dozen elves) but he was over the moon that he had had the biggest nights takings in the years he had owned the bar with not one hint of trouble, just everyone out to enjoy themselves. Such was he enamoured with the Saints he promised that if we got him a shirt it would replace the Leicester one in pride of place over the bar and he said the doors would always be open to Northampton people.
On Saturday our group travelled down to Perpignan for the day to see the Catalan side play Leeds in the Heineken Cup. Numbers were swelled with the official Saints party staying in the town and it was somewhat surreal sitting in a bar near the ground watching Saint after Saint traipsing past to the stadium. When Phil Davies and his team went by in the Leeds team bus some looked quite bemused as they saw a window full of people in Saints shirts, some wearing Perpignan scarves etc. The locals were even more bemused at these people in Gold, Black & Green but there were plenty of handshakes and greeting when they heard where we came from. We quickly learnt that the phrase, however bad the translation “Je suis Northampton, ce soir Catalan” earned us whole bunches of new friends. At a guess there was around double the number of Saints supporters at the game than Leeds but to their credit the small band of Tykes sang from start to finish and their team did them proud battling all the way and almost stealing a famous victory at the end.
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