Superb Saints shock undefeated
Ulster: How did they pull it off?
What a difference a week makes. At approximately 10:00 on Friday the 7th Northampton Saints team, management and fans were asking serious questions. Ulster arrived at Franklin's Gardens almost two weeks ago full of vigor and confidence on the back of a 13 match winning streak and looking to take a stranglehold on a tight Heineken Cup pool, with all of the above never looking in danger.
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| Stunned: Saints Captain Dylan Hartley had no answer to an assured Ulster. |
They dominated every single area of the match. Tom Court, Rory Best and
John Afoa scrummaged like lions, Johann Muller was majestic at the
line out and the back line ran riot, with Tommy Bowe at his marauding
best. Saints had no answer to Ruan Pienaar's distribution and control of his forwards,
alongside the measured kicking game of man of the match Jared Payne. Chris
Henry, Iain Henderson and former Saint Roger Wilson turned over ball time and
time again, with the break down firmly in Irish control.
To call this game a mismatch would be off the mark. To call Northampton bad would be understated. They were abject, woeful, dreadful, take your pick. Defensively, tackles were missed in key areas. Organisation was missing, with overlaps occurring seemingly every time the ball was thrown wide, with fly-half Paddy Jackson and fullback Payne able to clip the ball down into Saints territory. On the offensive, Saints lacked direction and seemed devoid of all ideas, with stand off Ryan Lamb drifted around the park unable to unlock the Ulster line. The ball rarely went outside the 13 channel, with schoolboy tactics of single ball carriers employed. It felt like Groundhog Day for Saints, repeated attempts at the Irishmen's defense were broken down with ease.
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| You shall not pass: Jamie Elliot typifies Saints' gritty performance |
The Ulstermen had well and truly stood up to a pitiful Northampton challenge. Ulster ran out comfortable 25-6 winners, picking up a 4 try bonus point and leaving the Saints with a crisis of faith. Captain and hooker Dylan Hartley conceded "We speak about intensity, they brought bags of it and we didn't bring enough. They are unbeaten and they showed why. They are a good team but we made them look better than it could of been" What was the rallying call? Pick themselves up, dust themselves off and try again. What game was up next? A return trip to Belfast at fortress Ravenhill against their tormentors Ulster. An opportunity for redemption. Marty Mcfly and The Delorean had to be on standby for Jim Mallinder and his charges so they could go back to last Friday and start all over again.
In a year that saw Europe emerge victorious despite a 6 point defecit going into the final day in The Ryder Cup, and in a week that saw League 2 side Bradford City dump Premier League giants Arsenal out of the League Cup, could Northampton Saints upset the odds and be the first team to defeat Ulster this season or would it be a miracle too far? Intensity was the buzzword, with fresh reinforcements added to the team. Tom May came into the centres to provide power in midfield, Paul Doran-Jones replaced a jaded Brian Mujati to anchor an out of form scrum and Calum Clark was recalled in a second row berth to give dynamism around the field and counter a deadly Ulster back row.
Baseball legend Hank Aaron famously once said "My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging." Saints seemed to have taken this mentality to heart, as a blistering opening 20 minutes to the game saw them come out swinging with everything they had.
A role reversal to last weeks game evident, with Northampton roaring into an early 10-0 lead, with no.8 Gj Van Velve's try typifying their performance, which was full of, you guessed it, intensity, bravery and physical determination. Forgotten man Stephen Myler, displacing Ryan Lamb for the away clash, threw a gorgeous pass out to American Samu Manoa, who then worked the ball into Van Velze's hands, who then handed off giant Irish wing Andrew Trimble and crossed the whitewash with two Ulstermen on his back to score the only try of the game.
A wounded animal is often at its most dangerous, and Ulster came back hard at the men in green and gold. On the 42 mintue mark, they cut the gap to a point and the Saints faithful began to grew fearful, with one of their main issues being unable to play consistently for 80 minutes. This was a different beast to last week however. Myler controlled brilliantly and worked the corners. Young hooker Mikey Haywood, coming in for the suspended Dylan Hartley, has an assured head on youthful shoulders, with Saints dominating the line-out ball. The Saints scrum, creaking and squealing so badly last week was formidable, with scrums turned over and penalties won. The stand out performer, however, was undoubtedly giant Californian lock Samu Manoa. A barnstorming display saw him carry, ruck, tackle, scrummage, and win kick off after kick off,and have a perfectly credible try disallowed, all of which saw him walk away with a Man of the Match award.
Despite a late Ruan Pienaar kick at goal, which could of seen them undeservedly take the spoils, being missed, Saints rarely looked in doubt of securing victory. It took fantastic last ditch tackling from wing Jamie Elliot to deny a certain try, and Ulster made countless handling errors, but this was Saints' day, a holy day for Northampton rugby. A tough home match against Harlequins this weekend looms, making this supporter wonder, what performance will we see next?
In a year that saw Europe emerge victorious despite a 6 point defecit going into the final day in The Ryder Cup, and in a week that saw League 2 side Bradford City dump Premier League giants Arsenal out of the League Cup, could Northampton Saints upset the odds and be the first team to defeat Ulster this season or would it be a miracle too far? Intensity was the buzzword, with fresh reinforcements added to the team. Tom May came into the centres to provide power in midfield, Paul Doran-Jones replaced a jaded Brian Mujati to anchor an out of form scrum and Calum Clark was recalled in a second row berth to give dynamism around the field and counter a deadly Ulster back row.
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| Delighted: Director of Rugby Jim Mallinder beams at his sides win. |
A role reversal to last weeks game evident, with Northampton roaring into an early 10-0 lead, with no.8 Gj Van Velve's try typifying their performance, which was full of, you guessed it, intensity, bravery and physical determination. Forgotten man Stephen Myler, displacing Ryan Lamb for the away clash, threw a gorgeous pass out to American Samu Manoa, who then worked the ball into Van Velze's hands, who then handed off giant Irish wing Andrew Trimble and crossed the whitewash with two Ulstermen on his back to score the only try of the game.
A wounded animal is often at its most dangerous, and Ulster came back hard at the men in green and gold. On the 42 mintue mark, they cut the gap to a point and the Saints faithful began to grew fearful, with one of their main issues being unable to play consistently for 80 minutes. This was a different beast to last week however. Myler controlled brilliantly and worked the corners. Young hooker Mikey Haywood, coming in for the suspended Dylan Hartley, has an assured head on youthful shoulders, with Saints dominating the line-out ball. The Saints scrum, creaking and squealing so badly last week was formidable, with scrums turned over and penalties won. The stand out performer, however, was undoubtedly giant Californian lock Samu Manoa. A barnstorming display saw him carry, ruck, tackle, scrummage, and win kick off after kick off,and have a perfectly credible try disallowed, all of which saw him walk away with a Man of the Match award.
Despite a late Ruan Pienaar kick at goal, which could of seen them undeservedly take the spoils, being missed, Saints rarely looked in doubt of securing victory. It took fantastic last ditch tackling from wing Jamie Elliot to deny a certain try, and Ulster made countless handling errors, but this was Saints' day, a holy day for Northampton rugby. A tough home match against Harlequins this weekend looms, making this supporter wonder, what performance will we see next?
