Sunday Blessing from the Saints
Over the past few years, the agreement between the two clubs has been to give the travelling away lads the points and a grand day out. Northampton Saints went against this established warranty back in mid-October with a late show to steal the spoils. A Ben Cohen try and Bruce Reihana conversion with the last kick, left the score line 25-23 in favour of the home side. Feckers!This clash has given both fans the nightmares that should be reserved for mad feckers and in-laws. From the historical PowerGen Cup final mullering of 2002 in favour of the Irish at HQ, a Saints revenge-fest was reaped in the same competition the following season. Ying and fecking Yang.
Well after they dishonestly broke the deal in the autumn, payback has to be for the exiles.
Well hang-a-frigging-dang here. The Saintly ones put in one of the seasons best performances while issuing the sorry Sarries a humbling at the Gardens. This display leaving Hinge, or is it Brackett, salivating like a toothless old dude on juice pulped from the succulent fruits picked from the secret garden of Saliva, in Seville.
A fine haulage of eight tries for the Midlanders, and a frickin’ huge step towards the business end of the table was the reward. Oh for a two try bonus award!
Northampton have had the normal infuriating season as far as delivering a gnat’s foreskin of consistency to their faithful, but not ultimately painless masses. Having won six of their fifteen league ties and a draw with the Pesty types, they sit 7th just 7 points from 5th and current berth of the Irish.
Since a complete fecking by Sale back on Boxing Day, the Saints have beaten Wuss, Brizzle, Tykes, a draw with Wasps and the aforementioned kicking of Sorries. This is serious form and points gained have seen their aspirations move from safety towards the grand prize of HC qualification.
The try count in the ‘For’ column, all be it with a solitary TB, now reads 32, only bettered by Cheetahs, Sharks and Insects, and a tally that betters their hosts on Sunday by six. However, their ability to let the opposition have a lash at their line has lead to thirty one 5 pointers to be levied at them.
Their change in form and winning of hugely important games against their (then) ‘R’ word fellow fornicators, has been a target for much discussion. Well, ten minutes in the Boater after the recent demolition of Barf at the Wreck by London Irish.
Can it be for reasons of the stars, be it the moon gravitating over Scorpio with a positive pull from Capricorn, or that fecker Spencer? Most real fans would factor in the former, but the latter has to have been a huge friggin’ bearing on the win column suddenly getting a mullering.
King Carlos, so called as he is actually the King of Carlos, has been a revelation on all things genius on attacking play. He has been able to turn more tricks than an Amsterdam street vendor on speed, but now the thick European/New Zealand born fellas have now cottoned on to what the fecker is up to.
But while he has been an inspiration to even those lacking in romance, beauty or a sense of being, the team have been getting pretty good too.
The feisty nugget, Mark Robinson, has been getting sharp and firing the bullets to get Carlos up and running. The centre partnership of former Leinster man David Quinlan and the improving Jon Clarke are giving superb targets for the 10 with Bruce Reihana continuing his reign as the Prince of Carlos.
On to the wingers. Lamont has progressed from potential to the real deal. Great shame that the 4 try hero on Saturday will be elsewhere focusing his attentions on that Cohen lad with a mere Calcutta Cup up for grabs. Cohen, a former football World Cup winner in 1966, has also re-discovered the form that got him his start at Wembley, so another happy absentee from an Irish point of view.
And so to the fat feckers. Well, the improvements here just continue to nudge Northampton in the desired direction.
Australian born All Black, Sam Harding is starting to get an understanding with his flanker bud, recently recruited Samoan Paul Tupai. With Dan Browne, the Auckland born Irish fecker, completing the three, the Saints have both ball winners and excellent go forward in this department.
Irishman Damian Browne and Mat Lord have been getting great momentum from the second row, forming a tough and fiercely competitive challenge to all comers over the past month or so. They have been providing a great engine for a front row full of experience with Tom Smith and established centurion Chris Budgen propping.
Steve Thompson is another guy heading to Edinburgh and may cause a problem as to a replacement. Academy lad Dylan Hartley has been the cover at hooker for the past couple of games, but will be playing Friday for U21 England in Falkirk. If Dan Richmond is fit, he would be the likely starter.
The Irish pack will have to continue the great battles of the Wreck and Castle Grim to get a strong foothold into this game. The huge front row will give it a lash, and the second row will be up for it. The back row will have a mountain of work to do to get any sniff of winning key victories on land, sea and air.
Defensively, the Saints will know the lads have been getting some hammerings from Smith and Co since the last encounter and will be thankful for a weekend off at the start of March.
This match is another huge fecker for London Irish if they are to pressure the sides above for play-off spots. With Magne out for the French and Super Topsy Ojo and Shane Geraghty doing their stuff in Scotland, Brian Smith will have a few headaches to cover.
Injuries to Paul Hodgson and Bob Casey should clear for this game, so another settled squad can be sort after. After fecking the Barf boys, the need to back that up with a home win in the league is a must. The Madstad has been a bloody awful venue for wins, with the last three being the wrong side of positive for the Exiles.
Another tough one to call. Confidence is a pint worth consuming and will get the go forward required. Saints will have that in spades after scoring 513 points against Sarries. But let’s not forget that a win at the Wreck is not a regular gain, so give this one a lash. Speed, defence and taking chances got the lads over the line on Saturday. A repeat performance by all may just be enough.
By the way Geoff Appleford, you are still a legend here.
-- Master Scribe