Premiership Review - Northampton Saints 41 - 17 Saracens

There is a new breed of grudge matches coming to the fore in the Premiership.  Sure, we're used to crackers between the Tigers and Saints, Bath and Gloucester, but with the top 3 seemingly iron-cast to be sitting at the top of the table, any match between Leicester, Northampton or Saracens is now just that more fiercely contested.  And they are generally as bad tempered as Victor Meldrew would be if he was kept awake the entire night by that wretched 'Stand up for the Saracens' song.

Of course, the place at the top of the pile is not new for Leicester.  They may not be firing on all cylinders at the moment, and have an injury list that would in itself form a top-4 side, but you wouldn't bet against them being in the mix again this season.  But Sarries and Saints are relatively new players at the top table.  It was only three years ago when Sarries first burst onto the scene and made it to the Premiership final, and the Saints only made the long-overdue step to the Premiership's showpiece last year.  But what these two may lack in traditional 'big-time' pedigree, they are making up for this season with some ferociously physical and clinical displays.  The match between Northampton and Saracens at Franklins Gardens on Saturday was always going to be a display of power-packed rugby at its best.  As it turned out though, only one side was playing it…

The battle began deceptively evenly, with Stephen Myler and Alex Goode exchanging penalties – although there was an indication of a very significant swing in the hosts' direction early on, with the Northampton scrum not only standing up to the renowned Sarries pack, but actually putting one over on them.  With the set piece considered to be Saracens' area of clear advantage between the 2 sides heading into this match, the sight of new man Richard Barrington and, surprisingly, Matt Stevens, struggling would not have been a welcome one for the visitors.

If those were the first signs of a leak in the Londoner's aura of invincibility that they've maintained domestically this season, the flood gates were soon to open.  Samu Manoa picked up a lineout and charged downfield, passing on to Kahn Fotuali'I who was brought down 20 metres out.  With the visitors backpeddling frantically, the Saints surged through the middle of the park, with Manoa, Alex Waller and Sam Dickinson offloading beautifully to put try machine Jamie Elliot over for the game's opening score.

Following that setback, Saracens fought hard to get a foothold in the match but were denied by superb try-saving tackles from Elliot and Ben Foden – the latter getting one over on the competition for the England 15 shirt, Goode.  With nothing to show for their trouble, things went from bad to worse for the visitors, as Luther Burrell continued his fine form by going on a 20 metre bust up the right, before the omnipresent Manoa picked the ball, brushed off a poor attempted tackle by Nils Mordt and stepped the flatfooted Goode for a superb try.

Goode pulled a desperately needed 3 points back for Saracens on the cusp of half time to leave the score 17-6, but the visitors' problems continued unabated in the second period.  The revered wolf pack was looking positively toothless, with even the one-man-wrecking-ball Jacques Burger anonymous, and Saints were rampant.  Burrell was once again the man to make the burst, but this time it was Foden who profited, picking up from short range and being driven over by Phil Dowson.

Less than 10 minutes later, Foden was in on the act again, picking up Saints' magnificent bonus point.  I've been critical of the fullback recently, questioning where his zip has been, but it was here for all to see now as the England man raced onto a perfectly weighted kick from Myler to collect the ball and ride out the covering tackle for the try.  This was now a rout, a 5 pointer against the meanest defence in the league in a match that was predicted to go down to the wire.

Duncan Taylor, the burly centre who had seen next to no ball for Saracens, briefly caused a glimmer of a smile of coach Mark McCall's face as he strode over the line for Sarries' first score, following a fine pass from Nils Mordt, who had endured a torrid afternoon otherwise – but there was no doubt this was Saints' afternoon.  Luther Burrell had made a real case for international inclusion and he was rewarded for another thunderous display when he finished off a fine move involving some slick hands between the Pisi brothers, George and Ken.

Saracens, to their credit, rallied, and the pack had a moment to saviour after spending the majority of the afternoon eating turf when Kelly Brown plunged over the line after a ferocious rolling maul, but fittingly it was to be the East Midlanders who had the last word, as James Wilson put Ken Pisi over following Myler's magnificent pass.

The final score was 41 – 17.  This wasn't just a thrashing, this was a statement.  And this time the statement is not "why not us?"…it increasingly looks like "it will be us".

What else was happening in the Premiership over the weekend?

 

Bath 15 – 13 Gloucester:  Bath came up trumps in a West Country derby at the Rec, but it proved a tight affair, despite utter forward dominance for the hosts.  George Ford hit 5 penalties but missed another 5 to allow the Cherry and Whites, who scored through Freddie Burns, within touching distance.

Exeter Chiefs 40 – 6 Worcester Warriors:  Dean Ryan's misery continued as Worcester were hammered at Sandy Park.  The Chiefs scored at will with Ben White (2), Dean Mumm, Phil Dollman, Damian Welch and Haydn Thomas all crossing for tries.

Harlequins 24 – 3 Sale Sharks:  Quins got back to winning ways at home as they cruised to victory over the Sharks.  Back rowers Luke Wallace and young Jack Clifford were the men to claim the key scores.

Newcastle Falcons 13 – 11 London Irish:  The Falcons continued their solid start to life in the Premiership with a crucial win over Irish in Newcastle.  Adam Powell scored the crucial try, countering an earlier effort from back-row Ofisa Treviranus.

London Wasps 22 – 12 Leicester Tigers:  Andy Goode was the man of the moment as the chunkster put in an inspired performance to make it six years at Adams Park without a win for the injury-ravaged Tigers.  England flyer Christian Wade scored the only try of the game.