It's not always easy sitting on top of the pile, being number one. The pressure builds with the expectation of success, and not everyone can handle it. You can see it everywhere you look – take the music industry for example. I'm almost ashamed to say that I was a proud owner of "Permission to Land" by The Darkness (actually, I'm not ashamed, it's a great album). They were, for a year, a phenomenon, before they slowly faded into obscurity. Ah, second album syndrome. Or second season syndrome, as it is in sport.
To be fair, Northampton Saints have not shown many signs of being susceptible
to it following their maiden title win last June. A brutal hammering of Gloucester on the
opening weekend may have been followed by a surprise loss at a resurgent Wasps,
but there was enough in their bonus-point win at Newcastle (with key players
rested) to suggest that the defeat was a flash in the pan. Their pack has started in typically monstrous
form, with Courtney Lawes proving the bane of any fly-half's existence, and the
backline still oozes menace – with the dancing feet of George Pisi and the
power of George North all strung together by the puppet-master, Stephen
Myler. There's been enough from the East
Midlanders to show that they won't be giving up their title without one hell of
a fight.
By the looks of it though they will be given just that by their
visitors at Franklins Gardens on Saturday.
You don't blast the all-conquering giants of English rugby from the last
decade, the Leicester Tigers, to smithereens and not raise a few eyebrows in
the process. How they kick on from that
remarkable 45 – 0 display will be interesting to see, but signs are there that
this is not the same flash Bath side that lacked backbone from last
season. Their attack has shown utter
conviction in every display and, with George Ford's decision making and
execution sitting firmly in the top-drawer, it's easy to see why so many
neutrals are flicking over to watch the Bath games now.
With the two early pace setters going head to head, there are
plenty of key match-ups between rivals for international shirts that will help determine
the outcome of this match, but I'm really to see how the two contrasting
attacking games stack up next to each other.
Saints are all about momentum and power through the middle and closer
channels, with forward runners being hit directly off the scrum half and the
likes of North and Luther Burrell attacking the 10/12 channel. Bath, on the other hand, run everything
through Ford. The forwards make the runs
off him, rather than the 9, and they look to generate width very early on as
they try and stretch defences to breaking point. Both are great to watch, but with Saints'
defence notoriously stingey, will Bath's ambitious approach pay-off?
There's no sign of this Saints outfit succumbing to the dreaded
syndrome just yet, but if they want true immunity, they'll have to start
winning the big games – and, believe me, this is one of them.
Northampton
Saints Team News
England trio Alex Corbisiero, Tom Wood and Stephen Myler return
for Northampton Saints in their only three changes from the win over Newcastle.
Kahn Fotuali'i keeps his place
scrum-half as he continues to share the role with Lee Dickson.
Starting
Line-up: Foden;
K Pisi, G Pisi, Burrell, North; Myler, Fotuali'i; Corbisiero, Hartley, Ma'afu;
Lawes, Day; Clark, Wood (capt), Manoa.
Subs:
McMillan, A Waller, Denman, Craig, Fisher, Dickson, Hooley, Wilson.
Key
Player
Courtney Lawes. As usual,
Lawes was creating havoc last weekend, picking on poor innocent fly halves as
he flew mercilessly into Ruaridh Jackson's ribcage. That ability to time his run and flatten 10s
is so important to the Saints defence – it sets the tone and forces the fly
half to play deeper to avoid being clattered.
To that end, it doesn't really matter if they manage to get the pass
away – the idea is to lead the line and get into their head. George Ford was imperious last weekend but
there were questions raised last season about his ability to handle
pressure. Lawes will provide plenty of
that.
Bath
Team News
Bath are forced to make two changes from the resounding 45-0 win
over Leicester Tigers last weekend. Carl
Fearns and Matt Banahan are both injured, so Alafoti Fa'osiliva and Olly
Woodburn take their places.
Starting
Line-up: Arscott;
Rokoduguni, Joseph, Eastmond, Woodburn; Ford, Cook; James, Webber, Wilson;
Hooper (capt), Attwood; Fa'osiliva, Mercer, Houston.
Subs:
Dunn, Auterac, Thomas, Day, Ewels, Stringer, Henson, Devoto.
Key
Player
George Ford. For the
reasons I describe above, the youngster will be under a lot of physical
pressure on Saturday. But he's one
season older – and wiser – and so this is a real opportunity for him to step up
and demonstrate that he can handle the pressure and can perform with authority
without necessarily the strongest platform.
His performance at the Rec last week rightly had Bath – and England –
fans purring, and if he can manage the pressure from Lawes, then he has all the
tools to unlock this Bath defence.
Key
Battle
Luther Burrell v Kyle Eastmond.
These are two blokes who had summers they would probably rather forget
in international colours. Burrell at
times gave his best revolving door impression in defence during the second test
whilst Eastmond, who had looked very sharp in the first match, gave a star turn
as a doormat in the third. Granted, they
were playing the world's best side, but it was still enough to attract plenty
of criticism from some quarters – but the way they have started this season,
you can see that they've put it all right behind them. Burrell – in his more familiar 12 role – has been
direct and strong in both defence and attack and is a chief source of
go-forward ball of first phase attack.
He'll be targeting Eastmond with his size advantage all day. Eastmond, on the other hand, is a slightly
different type of 12 – he can accelerate and distribute into the wider
channels, where the real strike runners are.
Expect these boys to get their hands on the ball a lot early on to try
and make a statement – they are both key to their team's gameplans.
Prediction
Both these sides have looked emphatic at points this year. Saints, on their opening fixture, simply blew
away a very talented – on paper – Gloucester side, whilst Bath absolutely
marmalised the Leicester Tigers of all people last year. These are two punishing and lethal attacks,
but they do play very different games which makes it a tricky one to call. Carl Fearns is a huge loss to Bath as his
physicality has been top notch this year and, without him, there's a chance
that they may spend a bit more time on the back foot than they've been used to
so far. It's enough to just sway it for
the hosts, in my view. Saints by 4.
London
Welsh v Gloucester: Welsh
at least avoided conceding a half century last weekend, but that won't be
enough to prevent them from falling to another defeat – even against a
Gloucester side that is still struggling to find that cohesiveness. Gloucester
by 22.
Leicester
Tigers v London Irish: Check
out this handy starting line-up: Ayerza,
Youngs, Cole, Thorne, Parling, Croft, Matera, Slater, Mele, Bai, Camacho,
Allen, Tuilagi, Thompstone, Morris.
That's a starting line-up you can make up from Leicester's
injury/unavailable list. Irish, after a
great display last week, should be licking their lips, but Leicester should
still have enough to grab a win – they'll certainly be hungry for it. Tigers
by 6.Saracens v Sale: Sale have been unlucky to only register the one win this season so far, but they won't be picking up a second at Allianz Park. Sarries have looked unplayable at times and have a great habit of winning games without necessarily firing on all cylinders, like last week. Sarries by 9.
Exeter Chiefs v Harlequins: The Chiefs are looking in pretty decent nick this season and Quins have looked a little ropey at times to say the least. Sandy Park is traditionally a difficult place to pick up a win and I think the Londoners may have to settle for a losing bonus point. Chiefs by 3.
Wasps v Newcastle Falcons: The Falcons' long losing streak continued last weekend (to be fair, they've had a tricky start to the season) and I suspect it will continue this Sunday. Wasps look like they are on the cusp of being a very decent side and I can see them winning pretty comfortably. Wasps by 11.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Share your views