365 Sporting Days

These 2 teams had very different games last week, Saints travelled to Bristol and had 52 points put on them by the Bears they scored 21. Saracens scored 52 points to Quins 7 at The new Spurs Stadium. Two once off games, Saints are top of the league and had won 9 of their 13 games to that point and had only lost 4.. Saracens had won 8 and lost 5 before this match. Franklin’s Gardens is a tough place to visit and a full crowd on a Friday night a daunting thought, there tends to be an edge when Saracens visit. I was sat amongst Saints season ticket holders and sat next to a lovely, friendly man. I did get onbe dirty look from a woman in front when I shouted in support of my team, but that was it.

On to the game, and it has to be said I imagine thsi was a great game for the neutral, it definitely was for the home fans. There was an early knock on by Saints which gave us a scrum in the 2nd minute, the 1st attempt was re-set, the 2nd picked up by Billy Vunipola, a bit of a theme was set as Oweb Farrell kicked the ball up the field, to be taken by Tommy Freeman, puttinmg Saimyts on the attack, a line out after Farrell was taken into tocuh with ball in hand saw Saints gettin gon the board, a lovely delayed pass from Fin Smith ti Alex Coles saw him stroll in. The conversion was in front of the posts and easily kicked.

A mistake by Elliot Daly saw him kick the ball out on the full, pulling play back into Saracens half, the ball ended up back in the Sainst half but Fin Smith returned the ball with a great kick into the Saracens half. We had a spell of playe where Mako Vunipola played scrum half and Billy Vunipola kickeing luke a Fly Half, the result was that anyway, a line out close to the Saints line.

The Saints 2nd try came from an outstanding run through from Ollie Sleightholme, he really deserved to make another metre to score the try himself, th ebuild up was brilliant. Having watched the try on the screen I very much doubt it was touched down over the line and it was held up over the line. But Luke Pearce had already given a try, in spite of saying he hadn’t seen it touched down. A try it was and Saints were leading by 14 after 11 minutes. Naturally the crowd were happy and loud.

Saints were awarded a penalty in the next scrum and Smith kicked teh points , that was a poimt a minute at 17 nil. Saracens got points on the board after Theo McFarland charged down a clearing kick from Tom James, the bounce was kind to him and he scored unhindered, Farrell added the extras.

Saracens were awarded a penalty after Burger Odendall (he sounds like a Greek god!) came round teh side to picke up the ball in a ruck, Farrelll clsoed the gap to 7.

Pearce clearly wanted the ball moved quickly from the back of the rucks and penalised James after clearly counting down from 5, you could see him count past teh 5 before the ball was moved, he explained to James thatr he’d given him time on teh otehr side of the field. As the commentary team pointed out the charge down will have been in James’ mind. They also pointed out the need for consistnecy as did Dan Vickers when interviewed moments later.

Saints were penalised when Lawes took the ball in a ruck, legally, unfortunately Alex Moon hadn’t cleared the ruck, it was him who was penalised. That was clear with the ref link and might have stopped the booing had others had he benefit of one.

Juan Martin Gonzalez left the pitch just before half-time bringing Ben Earl into the fray. Hoping Gonzalez isn;t injured he’s had some bad luck on that front this season.

The half finished with the score on Northampton Saints 17 Saracens 10. The quality of Saints attack has been high for a couple of seasons, it was noticeable that their defence was equally as impressive in the 1st half, Saracens hadn’t been without opportunity.

An early penalty for Sarcesns saw Farrell close the gap to 4, cue more boo’s. Those boo’s turned to cheers a couple of minutes later when James took a quick tap penalty to drive Saints deep into the Saracens half, there was some lovley apssing as they went. Playing with a penalty in their pocket, Smith (again) put in a perfect pass to James Ramm, who then strolled in to score under the posts, the conversion was an easy one and Saints had 24 to Saracens 13. Looking back at the original penalty Mako V may have been lucky the incident wasn’t reviewed.

A penalty on 51 minutes stretched the lead to 14, a good kick for Smith. Saracens were next on the scoreboard after Ben Earl, who isn’t the tallest player charged down a kcik from Ramm, frustrating for Saints! Farrell added the extras to take Saracens within 7.

Alex Lewington was shown a yellow card on the hour when his hand brushed the ball as Saints passed, it was deemed a deliberate knock on, the Saints fan on my other side felt the need to say, ‘cheats never prosper’ not the nicest take. Saints were quick to make the most of the exyra man and another lovely pass from Smith to Freeman this time, saw him run through to score a cracker. The conversion wa sa simple one and moved Saints to 34.

A loose pass from Farrell sae the ball go to ground and Fraser Dingwall was quick to pick it up, Sleigtholme was on his shoulder and he sped in to score a desereved try, between the posts the conversion was a given. It was interesting to note that Pearce hurried Smith on with his conversion.

Unusually Farrrell left the field after the try seeing Alex Goode taking over at 10, he kicked the ball dead after Saracens werre awarded a penalty. It was hard to imagine Saracens taking anything from this match, but they had other ideas. Fin Smith was announced as Man of the Match in the ground as he was shown a yellow card, he was deemed to have kicked the ball away from an off-side position, it did feel harsh.

Saracens scored through Lewington after a lovely chip ove rthe defence from Goode, who missed the conversion with his drop kick. Lewington scored his second after Theo Dan had made a great break, a lovely pass from fellow winger Sean Maitland put him in. That was Saracens’ 4th try giving them that 1 point. An impressive comeback for Saints afte rtheor drubbing next week, it;s hard to see past them going all the way. Quins also bounced back from their horror show last week moving them back into 4th place, Exteter Chiefs, who face Sale Sharks today can leapfrog both them and Saracens who sit in 3rd after this match.