By Louisa
November 17 2006

After a fortnight’s break, this weekend sees the Saints return to play on their home patch with a match against 6th placed Saracens.

 

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS vs SARACENS

MATCH PREVIEW

SATURDAY 18th NOVEMBER 2006, 1pm

Glorious memories of a 58-17 victory the last time the two teams met are no doubt etched on the minds of Northampton supporters, who have had little to cheer about of late. It was the performance of a lifetime for the Saints with four tries from Sean Lamont supplemented by scores from Paul Tupai, Sam Harding, Ben Cohen and John Rudd, as well as ‘that’ kick from Carlos Spencer.

 

Of the last 4 encounters between Northampton and Saracens, the score lies at 2 games all, with both teams winning their home fixture in recent years.

 

But sport is a fickle profession and no one can afford to live on former glories, least of all a Saints side who only last Friday were languishing in 10^th place at the bottom of the Guinness Premiership. And yet what a difference a week makes. Saturday saw the men in green, black and gold record their first league win since mid-September, beating a struggling Worcester side, leapfrogging up 3 places in the table to 7^th, just a couple of points below this weekend’s opponents.

 

So what of the Saints’ prospects for this weekend? With the exception of the match back in February, showdowns between the two sides are usually fiery affairs with big tackles and yellow cards aplenty. Like Northampton, the Saracens mid-table status reflects half a season of inconsistent form with 3 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw. However, confidence will be high in the Watford changing rooms since the Fez Heads travel to Northampton this weekend on the back of a deserved 22-16 victory over former premiership greats, the Leicester Tigers. Add to this the fact that the men in black will undoubtedly be wanting to avenge last season’s pasting suffered in the Franklins Gardens fixture, and it seems that we certainly have some game on our hands.

 

With injuries to Jon Clarke and captain, Bruce Reihana, and David Quinlan, Pat Barnard, Rob Laird, Robbie Kydd and Rhodri Davies out of action for the next few weeks, the Saints will have to turn in an excellent performance against a strong Saracens side. The outcome of the match will all hinge on the all important question of which Saints team turns up:  the sloppy and sluggish side which lost to poor Leicester and Harlequins sides or the spirited 22 who eased past Bath, Newcastle and Worcester. Only time will tell. In a fortnight where head coach, Paul Grayson has questioned the commitment of certain players in his team, one can only hope it is the latter.

 

The Northampton team for tomorrow will be as follows:

 

15 VAUGHAN GOING

14 Johnny Howard

13 Stephen Myler

12 Seamus Mallon

11 Paul Diggin

10 CARLOS SPENCER

9 MARK ROBINSON

 

1 TOM SMITH

2 STEVE THOMPSON

3 Chris Budgen

4 Damien Browne

5 DAVID GERARD

6 PAUL TUPAI

7 Darren Fox (capt)

8 Mark Easter

 

16 Dylan Hartley

17 SOANE TONGA’UIHA

18 Matt Lord

19 Daniel Browne

20 Ian Vass

21 Will Harries

22 Chris Wyles

 

With injuries to 9 out of the first team’s 10 centres, new recruit Stephen Myler finds himself thrown in at the deep end, making his first start for Saints by partnering Seamus Mallon in the centre. Despite only having taking up rugby union in September, Myler has already earned himself more than a few fans as a result of some excellent performances at flyhalf and centre for the Wanderers, scoring tries and kicking points galore. This weekend, young Myler will face a familiar opponent in the centre: rugby league convert, Andy Farrell. No doubt Myler and Grayson will be hoping for a better result than the last time the two players met, when the Saracens second team beat an inexperienced Wanderers side, 43-12.

 

International duty has left the first choice fifteen with holes on both wings as Ben Cohen and Sean Lamont received call-ups this week to England and Scotland respectively. Their places are taken by on-form scrumhalf Johnny Howard, and the lightening-fast Paul Diggin, both of whom will be looking to impress the coaches in a bid to retain their places when the usual occupants of the 11 and 14 shirts return to the club in 2 weeks.

The pack that beat Worcester last weekend is only subject to one change with Chris Budgen coming in to replace the injured Pat Barnard at tighthead prop. Elsewhere, Mark Easter is rewarded for a string of solid performances over the last few months by being preferred to Daniel Browne at number 8.

 

Speaking after the team announcement, Grayson said, “The players are pretty determined to back up last weekend’s performance. We want to find a bit of consistency in our performances; if we can do that, the results will come.”

 

Saracens Director of Rugby, Alan Gaffney has announced a strong 22 for this weekend’s fixture:

 

1 Kevin Yates

2 Shane Byrne

3 Cobus Visagie

4 Tom Ryder

5 Kris Chesney

6 Hugh Vyvyan

7 David Seymour

8 Ben Skirving

9 Neil de Kock

10 Glen Jackson

11 Tevita Vaikona

12 Andy Farrell

13 Kevin Sorrell

14 Dan Scarbrough

15 Thomas Castaignede

 

16 Matt Cairns

17 Aaron Liffchak

18 Iain Fullarton

19 Paul Gustard

20 Alan Dickens

21 Rodd Penney

22 Tomas de Vedia

 

Saturday’s match will undoubtedly be confrontational with a strong and experienced Saracens pack that includes the likes of Shane Byrne, Hugh Vyvyan and old warhorse, Cobus Visage, as well as young talent in the form of David Seymour and Tom Ryder.

 

The backline looks none too shabby either with international fullback and flyhalf, Thomas Castaignede, being handed the number 15 shirt, with speedsters Dan Scarbrough and Dan Scarbrough on either wing. Elsewhere, rugby league legend, Andy Farrell partners Kevin Sorrel in the centre.

 

And so to the customary previewer’s prediction. On paper, the Saracens should beat Northampton, but of course the glorious game of rugby is played on grass, and I’m not so sure that this will be the case. With several young players looking to impress the coaches as well as a couple of older ones most probably hoping to prove a point, I can see the Saints edging this one with the help of their home advantage.

 

Saints by 7.