NORTHAMPTON SAINTS vs. BIARRITZ OLYMPIQUE

HEINEKEN CUP - POOL MATCH - ROUND 6

SUNDAY, 21st JANUARY, 2007 - 3pm

MATCH PREVIEW

In the meantime however there is the small matter of a Pool 6 ‘decider’ to get our heads around. I put decider in inverted commas because in my mind the possibilities of us actually topping the group are somewhere between no hope and Bob Hope, and we all know what happened to the legendary comedian don’t we?

My, aren’t I optimistic?

It was around this time of year last season when our campaign began to turn around, and if there is one straw I can clutch at is that a victory over Biarritz could do the same this time around.

At least by 3 o’clock on Sunday afternoon we will know what, if anything, needs to be done to ensure qualification. So if Biarritz have qualified as top seeds they can take their foot of the pedal, and if we are sure of a quarter final place we can relax and throw the ball about with gay abandon.

I wasn’t at Murrayfield last weekend (thank God!). But from the little shown on the Rugby Club it appears that a new and somewhat rare species has shown its face in the black, green and gold (and white). The loop-around backline move. Yes, the boys finally realised that the easiest way to create an overlap is to have a dummy runner hold the defenders while Los passes to Kydd before looping around to pass to the unmarked runner from deep.

Stunned by this development Borders conceded two tries to Toops and Digger. And if we can bring this to the Premiership enough defences will be so bemused by the new-found Northampton skill of passing the ball that they too will let us score elusive five-pointers. I’m not so sure Biarritz will be as accommodating though.

Here are the teams:

Northampton Saints – 15 Robbie Kydd, 14 SEAN LAMONT, 13 BEN COHEN, 12 DAVID QUINLAN, 11 Paul Diggin, 10 CARLOS SPENCER, 9 MARK ROBINSON, 1 Chris Budgen, 2 STEVE THOMPSON (capt), 3 Pat Barnard, 4 DAVID GERARD, 5 Christian Short, 6 PAUL TUPAI, 7 Darren Fox, 8 Daniel Browne.

16 Dylan Hartley, 17 SOANE TONGA’UIHA, 18 Matt Lord, 19 Mark Easter, 20 Johnny Howard, 21 Rob Laird, 22 Chris Wyles.

Biarritz Olympique – 15. Benjamin Dambielle, 14. Philippe Bidabe, 13. Martin Gaitan, 12. Andrea Masi, 11. Sereli Bobo, 10. Julien Peyrelongue, 9. Dimitri Yachvili, 1. Petru Balan, 2. Benoit August, 3. Denis Avril, 4. Jerome Thion, 5. David Couzinet, 6. Serge Betsen, 7. Imanol Harinordoquy, 8. Thomas Lievremont.
16. Benjamin Noirot, 17. Benoit Lecouls, 18. Santiago Dellappe, 19. Mohammed Dridi, 20. Julien Dupuy, 21. Jimmy Marlu, 22. Gonzalo Padro.

Well you can only beat what’s put in front of you!

That’s it for the playing side of proceedings. I’m going to turn now to the supporters.

Two home games ago the fans were magnificent, perhaps because they couldn’t see the action and therefore had nothing to do. Against Worcester things weren’t so good. Yes, the lads were rubbish, but in those circumstances the fans have to do their best to raise them up. One of my abiding sporting memories was a Newcastle United trip to QPR a few years ago.

The Toon were decimated by injuries and the ‘flu and within 10 minutes had conceded three goals. But the thousands of Geordies didn’t sit down and accept their pummelling – far from it. Instead they stayed on their feet and chanting throughout the match in the attempt to provide a foundation of motivation for the lads wearing their club’s shirt.

Franklin’s Gardens used to have this similar aura. It doesn’t now. We have whingers, people who leave early at the smallest excuse, ‘supporters’ who pay their £25-40 and sit back to be entertained without the faintest conception that it’s a two-way street out there. In short, there is too much silence.

I’m not the biggest fan of bringing some brass instruments and drums into FG and having them play occasionally to get some singing going. But the fact that the club are trying to do this shows how far we’ve slipped from the notion of ‘Fortress Franklin’s’.

The club handed out 6,000 fanbanas at the start of the season. Where have they gone? We have backs against the wall across the board and aside from a small band of dedicated people (many of whom are COYSDC regulars) the support is all too ready to slip away into the night.

So let Sunday be a starting point for the rest of the season, both playing and supporting. We can’t affect the length of the studs or the lineout call, but we can open our mouths and try our damndest to get behind the boys and stay behind them.

We are a proud club.

We are the Saints.

Are you ready?