Northampton Saints v Leicester Tigers

First topic message reminder :

I can't see a thread for this one. Scheduled for Saturday April 14th at Franklin Gardens 8am kick off (well here anyway, 3pm BST for those in the UK )

Teams
Northampton: Foden; Ashton, Pisi, Downey, Diggin; Lamb, Dickson (capt); Tonag'uiha, Long, Mujati; Manoa, Day; Craig, Dowson, Wilson.
Replacements: McMillan, Waller, Doran Jones, Sorenson, Nutley, Roberts, Myler, May.
Leicester: Murphy (capt); Agulla, M Tuilagi, Allen, A Tuilagi; Flood, B Youngs; Ayerza, Chuter, Cole; Skivington, Parling; Croft, Salvi, Waldrom.
Replacements: T Youngs, Castrogiovanni, Mulipola, Mafi, Newby, Harrison, Twelvetrees, Hamilton.

Always a testy encounter. Tigers on form, Saints seem a little flat and both teams with a couple of long term absentee's (Deacon, Crane, Hartley, Clark). Wood also missing for the Saints but good to see Manoa back after injury. Although at the Gardens I can't see past the usual Tigers win although I do live in hope.

Did wonder about doing a first yellow card poll

The mighty A Tuilagi dragged in to touch by Diggen

Good work my Diggin, manhandling Alessana into touch.

Good kick by Myler gives Ashton a score in the corner. Still enough time to get the LBP?

Conversion missed 90 secs left

Blimey Ashton gets one!

manu off, 36 on. Manu has blood on him may be Diggins.

Tuilagi really is pants 99% of the time.

I'm so glad Ashton got a try. The media was beginning to annoy me a little going on about it.

Also good to see Ashton not making a deal about it. Losing the game is more important than him scoring a try

Tigers scrum in front of posts. Newby pick and drive, Mafi goes close. Knock on by Saints - deliberate? Time up, justthis scrum to play.

Flood kicks it out.

Thumping win.

Sorry for doubting your prediction Yappy.

Just caught up with the tread! Thanks guys! What was the final score?

Saints 21 Tigers 35

No worries LT, i'll be along with the lottery numbers in a mo.

What was my prediction for the Quins game? Oh...

On to Quins v Wasps now.

Well done Tigers. I still remember the questions whether Tigers could possibly make it up the table after the first 6 or so games. They've had amazing form since Christmas

They do look a completely different side, Cockerill seems slightly less haggered now as well.

So Quins-Waps people. I'm going to change my prediction on a whim and go for Quins by 2.

What a gent Cockers is, i've been very critical of him this season for on pitch things but in interviews at least he is top notch.

Future Saxons coach maybe?

Falcons winning 20-29 with no time to go GET IN THERE LADS!!!!

Well done Newcastle. Sale stay in 6th spot as well.

Always good to help fellow northerners out too!

I see tw*tford is at it again!

http://m.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/apr/14/northampton-leicester-premiership?cat=sport&type=article

Just noticed we made a new Premiership record of 5 TBPs in a row.

BORING BORING LEICESTER!

In 20 league matches this season Tigers have scored 63 tries - 15 more than next highest (Quins).

They have also conceeded 42 (only Sales 43 and Falcons 55) have conceded more.

In total that is 105 tries in 20 matches. Defensive coaches would be pulling their hair out.

How many tries conceeded post WC though?

How many tries since Christmas? I bet a lot less.

Cheers. That is a more telling set of stats.

From the OP

Always a testy encounter.

And given the badness involved in their previous contest, nothing contentious in this game says more than a little about the nature of proper rugby

And quite a lot about the sensationalists predicting a plethora of red and yellow cards.

Says most about how dominant Tigers were, and how supine Saints were.

LondonTiger wrote:Says most about how dominant Tigers were, and how supine Saints were.

I don't think that's very fair LT.

The Saints' players would have been on a three-line whip not to risk further incidents lest they sink horribly.
The Tigers will also have been warned very sternly not to mix it.

It's good to see a local derby that can procede from one controversial occasion to the next encounter with total dignity.

It was pleasant to see,

Portnoy wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:Says most about how dominant Tigers were, and how supine Saints were.

I don't think that's very fair LT.

The Saints' players would have been on a three-line whip not to risk further incidents lest they sink horribly.
The Tigers will also have been warned very sternly not to mix it.

It's good to see a local derby that can procede from one controversial occasion to the next encounter with total dignity.

Well, to me that seemed fairly obvious and was the point I was trying to get across last week when the doom-mongers were predicting a veritable brawl. You don't need huge intelligence to work out that both teams were likely to be on their best behaviour.

Also you do not need huge intelligence to work out that any spark could have caused a major issue.

Well, the nature with which the match was played proved which were those of us with the most sensible predictions. In my opinion, of course.

Disappointing game from a Saints point of view of course but nothing I didn't expect. I know it's an old cliche but the Saints have looked as though they just been going through the motions for a while now and until they get start enjoying the game again then I don't expect much to change in the short term. Fair play to the Tigers though who were totally professional and once again have hit form at the right time.

On the 'incident' side of things it was refreshing to see everything go smoothly although I don't think it was a forgone conclusion that some thought would be the case (although I didn't predict a card fest like some). Regardless of the coaches threatening the players beforehand in the heat of the moment certain players (as in general people in all walks of life) will just act first when the red mist descends. Thankfully nothing happened this time to provoke an incident (such as the Ashton hair pull).

Maybe there was no agro because a certain Irish full back with his celtic 'passion' missed the game after Cockers got him taken out in training*

*comment truly said in jest as Murphy is one of my favorite players in rugby

Tigers were definitely the better side, but I felt the scoreline could have been a lot closer. Saints butchered 3 gilt edged opportunities (2 by Ashton), Tigers butchered 1 with a forward pass by Allen, and Saints gifted Tigers their first try (terrible by Lamb).

Got the feeling Tigers eased up when they got the 4th try though.

Its what teams do against such weak opposition

Got the feeling Tigers eased up when they got the 4th try though

Maybe a little but Saints were playing some good stuff and until the first Tigers try were on top. They edged the scrum and had they not lost the lineout battle then they could have applied a lot more pressure. It all comes back to the first try though, that really shook the Saints team. The moment of magic from Agulla really rubbed salt in the wounds and they looked very short of an on field leader to pick them back up.