By Richard Lindsley
April 27 2007

Saints lie bottom of the Guinness Premiership and need Saracens to give them a helping hand at Worcester to aid their GP survival. London Irish come to FG this Saturday - can Saints beat the drop? St Rich previews the last match of the season...

 

I’ve been writing this for quite some time now. I’ve certainly been planning it in my head since our preview for the last match with London Irish. This preview will not mirror its predecessor from our educated, eloquent ex-pat. The phrase ‘Not-Not’ will be used once only. That was it. There will be no references to places of birth or geographical locations. The reason is simply this – I LIKE LONDON IRISH.

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS vs LONDON IRISH

SATURDAY, 28th April 2007 - 3.05pm

GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP - ROUND 22

MATCH PREVIEW

Well then what’s so good about London Irish that has me feeling this way? Firstly they’re a complete bunch of loonies: The wigs, the feather boas, the drums, the air raid siren and their songs (especially the London Irish version of Barcelona.) Do I need to go on? Secondly they have been great supporters of Saints with Heart, participating in the walks and joining in with the spirit of the event (or should that be passing around the spirits?) The Fat Blokes 7’s is a marvellous event that everyone should attend at least once and says everything about ‘the Irish’. Look at the Craic messageboard. One of the funniest on sportsnetwork and then remember back to last summer. Remember how brave little Jack Wakefield united us all.

 

Anyone who has experienced all of the above would have to have a heart of stone NOT to appreciate London Irish. As for all the nonsense about who plays for them and where they play and where the supporters come from…I have a few thoughts for you. Northampton Saints are NOT a team made up of delinquent youngsters from St. James and they are NOT supported solely by people born in the borough of Northampton. Simply, Northampton Football Club is NOT what it started out as, so why should we mock other clubs because they’ve changed too?

 

That’s enough of that, let’s talk about the rugby.

 

Northampton Saints find themselves in a dire position. We’ve had many ‘must win’ matches this season but that cliché has never been truer. We have to win; it’s as simple as that. Then we have to pray to the rugby gods that Worcester Warriors lose and become this year’s sacrificial lamb. Horrible isn’t it?

 

(There are some other permutations where we can stay up but thinking about them produces a slight burning smell and a horrible headache. So the plan remains WIN because playing for a four-try bonus draw is, as sports commentator Pepper Brooks might say:

 

“A bold strategy. I’d like to see how that works out for them!”)

 

The Saints have stumbled along this season. We all know the story; the national press have seized our demise and ran with every theory from unlucky to incompetent, from conspiracy to just desserts. It’s Barwell’s fault or is it Grayson’s fault or maybe the Kiwi’s fault or perhaps it’s the lack of England player’s or perhaps it’s the academies fault or perhaps it’s a strength in depth thing etc…etc…etc.

 

On Saturday it doesn’t matter, we need to win and our job is to get behind the XV on the pitch and let them know we’re with them all the way.

 

The match at the Madjet earlier this season was a one sided affair with the Saints at their very worst and where a very pacey London Irish team tore us to bits. Since then Irish have cemented a top sixth place and may or may not (depending on the ongoing political shenanigans,) be playing in next season’s Heineken Cup. The theory is, given that their position can’t change, that they won’t be up for this match. That I would suggest is poppycock. Their supporters claim that they can blow hot and cold and true as that may be, I really don’t believe they’ll roll over and die, that’s just not the done thing.

 

Down the years there have been some epic encounters between the teams: These include really tight nail-biters and absolute annihilations. Neither team has a significant advantage over the other with Saints just edging the 21 match series by 12-9. 1999-2000 sticks in my mind (not surprising it was our best season ever.) A close win at FG in November was followed by the performance, that many consider our best in that awesome season, with Saints winning 44-20 at the Stoop. This was topped off by the cup semi final victory at the Madejski.

 

Two years later the tables were turned as we were thrashed at the Madjet and then marooned 7-38 in that horrible cup final. We claimed our revenge a year later in the cup semi-final at the Oxford’s Kassam Stadium. Through all of that the London Irish supporters I’d encountered were as gracious in defeat as they were in victory. Who could forget this fixture last season, on a Saints with Heart Walk day, the Saints started like the proverbial ‘hats on wheels’ only for those wheels to fall off. Then late in the piece Ben Cohen’s try in the corner tied the match and Bruce Reihana’s conversion won it from the touchline. What price a re-run of that match on Saturday?

 

This week’s team news…

 

Well as I write there is no team news apart from the horror show that is Dylan’s ban and unless you’re having a D.I. Sam Tyler experience you’ll be all too aware of the whole sorry mess.

 

Maverick has advised me to guess the teams and he’ll edit the real ones in later. I’m hoping that Brooks will be back at tight head this week or our only chance for any set piece parity has just sailed over the horizon! I’m also hoping they’ve been practising those line outs this week given that Kennedy and Casey tend to mince everyone they meet! For Irish much as I’d like to go with the selection as picked by our very own Chris Gleadell (if you haven’t seen it check out: “team thoughts for Saturday” over on the Craic,) I’ll borrow the thoughts of PV from that thread!

 

Saints

 

Diggin

Lamont

Clarke

Reihana

Cohen

Spencer

Robinson

Brooks

Cortese

Smith

Gerrard

Short

Tupai

Lewitt

Labit

 

Irish

 

Hatley
Coetzee
Tonga
Casey
Kennedy
Roche
Danaher
Murphy
Hodgson
Geraghty
Tagicakibau
Flutey
Mapusua
Ojo
Armitage
 

To conclude it’s been a season of surprises, shocks, joy, despair, bans, hellos, goodbyes, jubilation, commiseration and the ever-looming threat of relegation. In case anyone’s in any doubt we are now drinking in the last chance saloon. Worse still the booked entertainment is one Madame Rotund an accomplished Femme Fatale with the voice of an Angel and the heart of a Balrog. Not only is the fat lady warmed up, with her posh frock on, she’s had her two minute call and we’re moments from curtains up. All we, the supporters, can do is try to drown her out with chorus after chorus of ‘Oh Wendy’ and ‘Come on you Saints’.

 

The rest is down to the XV on the pitch and even then we have to rely on the fez-heads to do us a favour.

 

My prediction? Saints to remain in the ‘haves’ and not the ‘have nots’.

 

And for those of you who like the facts…

Northampton Saints Vs. London Irish 1998-2007
1998-1999
Date	Saints	Irish	Venue
January 5th	L 8	32	Franklin’s Gardens
	W 26	10	The Avenue
1999-2000
November 13th	W 24	19	Franklin’s Gardens
January 26th	W 44	20	The Stoop
April 8th	W 24	17	Madejski Stadium
			(cup semi-final)
2000-2001
August 26th	W 27	10	Franklin’s Gardens
March 17th	L 10	13	Madejski Stadium
2001-2002
November 18th	L 12	48	Madejski Stadium
December 29th	W 24	15	Franklin’s Gardens
April 20th	L 7	38	Twickenham
			(Cup final)
May 19th	W 38	14	Madejski Stadium
			(Play offs)
2002-2003
October 27th	W 14	12	Madejski Stadium
January 4th	L 10	22	Franklin’s Gardens
March 2nd	W 38	9	Kassam Stadium
2003-2004
October 11th	L 24	30	Franklin’s Gardens
January 4th	W 36	15	Madejski Stadium
2004-2005
November 13th	L 20	21	Franklin’s Gardens
December 27th	W 22	21	Madejski Stadium
2005-2006
October 15th	W 25	23	Franklin’s Gardens
February 26th	L 3	30	Madejski Stadium
2006-2007
November 26th	L 5	40	Madejski Stadium
Summary 1988-2007
PLAYED	WON	LOST	DRAWN
21	12	9	0

 

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS

15 BRUCE REIHANA (capt), 14 SEAN LAMONT, 13 Jon Clarke, 12 Robbie Kydd, 11 BEN COHEN, 10 CARLOS SPENCER, 9 MARK ROBINSON; 1 TOM SMITH, 2 MATIAS CORTESE, 3 John Brooks, 4 Damien Browne, 5 Christian Short, 6 PAUL TUPAI, 7 Ben Lewitt, 8 CHRISTIAN LABIT

Replacements: 16 Dan Richmond, 17 Chris Budgen, 18 DAVID GERARD, 19 Darren Fox, 20 Johnny Howard, 21 Stephen Myler, 22 Paul Diggin

 

LONDON IRISH

15. Topsy Ojo, 14. Justin Bishop, 13. Seilala Mapusua, 12. Nils Mordt, 11. Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10. Riki Flutey, 9. Paul Hodgson; 1. Neal Hatley, 2. David Paice, 3. Tonga Lea'aetoa, 4. Nick Kennedy, 5. Bob Casey (captain), 6. Kieran Roche, 7. Declan Danaher, 8. Phil Murphy

Replacements: 16. Michael Collins, 17. Danie Coetzee, 18. James Hudson, 19. Gary Johnson, 20. Olivier Magne, 21. Richie Rees, 22. Delon Armitage

 

REFEREE: Mr Chris White