TOULOUSE 21

Heineken Cup

Franklin’s Gardens

Saturday, December 4, 2004

Herculean. Nerve-wrenching. Passionate. Overwhelming. Remarkable. Awe-inspiring. Any number of superlatives could be directed the way of the Saints after two weeks of turmoil were put firmly into the history books as the unbeaten Heineken Cup run continued.

Despite being outscored by two tries to one by Toulouse, and on the back-foot for substantial portions of the game, Saints’ effort never wavered, and the look on chairman Keith Barwell’s face on the final whistle summed up the waves of emotion that filled Franklin’s Gardens from the warm-up to the ovation that greeted acting head coach Budge Pountney’s arrival on the field.

However, the task faced in containing the much-vaunted attacking flair of the visitors was demonstrated early with Benoit Baby ghosting past Ben Cohen and bouncing off the attempted tackles of Corne Krige – who took a blow in the third minute – and John Rudd. Even so, Saints opened the scoring through Paul Grayson – his first points as a Saints coach – when Toulouse flanker Christian Labit was penalised for not binding onto the scrum. Marc Stcherbina and Wylie Human created the chance through their respective kick and chase, and early nerves were settled.

Frederic Michalak equalised as the visitors’ pack, whose bulk and power told in the tight throughout, forced Mark Soden to hold on, and there followed tit-for-tat scoring where Michalak would edge Toulouse in front only to be pegged back by Grayson, whose third kick was somewhat of a disappointment after Rudd’s powerful run had created a good try-scoring opportunity. The winger was held short, as were repeated thrusts by the pack, and when the ball went wide, Cohen’s pass to Thompson was a loose one and referee Alan Lewis returned to an earlier infringement.

This was followed by five minutes that turned the match in Saints’ favour. Grayson slotted his fourth penalty after Toulouse hands in the ruck – for which Omar Hasan was sin-binned – and man of the match Mark Robinson capitalised on Baby’s knock-on 10 metres out to power his way over in the corner. Although Grayson missed the conversion, Saints were firmly in the driving seat.

Toulouse, however, had other ideas. Their attack, which had threatened to break free throughout the half, finally did so on the stroke of halftime. Baby collected Robinson’s kick and shrugged off Human’s tackle. Fifty-five metres, a searing break by Gareth Thomas and good hands by forwards and backs later, Florian Fritz slid over in the south-east corner, Michalak failing with the conversion.

The opening period of the second half saw the visitors camp out in the Northampton half. However, and though gifted possession by some wayward kicking, Toulouse found the defensive wall impenetrable as Baby held on in the tackle, Thomas knocked on, and the Saints forwards repelled powerful driving.

Saints slowly began to control their own ball, Cohen’s burst drawing acclaim from the capacity crowd, Blowers thrusts into the line that left defenders sprawling, and Human twice bursting down the left from quick throw-ins – the second of which urged by new captain Steve Thompson.

It took 23 second-half minutes for there to be a score, once again coming from Grayson’s boot and easing the Saints six points clear. This only spurred the visitors on, and the pressure on the home goal line eventually told when Yannick Jauzion picked up loose ball on the run to crash over under the posts. Michalak had the easy conversion, and Toulouse the advantage, with 10 minutes on the clock.

The French, however, hadn’t counted on Shane Drahm. Replacing Grayson before the kick-off, the Australian’s boot gave his forwards momentum, and seemingly out of nowhere produced a 40-metre drop-goal that sent the crowd into raptures.

Replacements from both sides ate up the time, the tension mounted, and the well-disciplined Saints defence stepped up a gear to turn the ball over at vital moments when Toulouse were once again threatening to both break clear and home hearts.

But hold out they did, and with the urgings of the bench five minutes into stoppage time, kicked the ball dead and record a famous victory.

Teams:
Northampton Saints – Clarke; Rudd, Cohen, Stcherbina, Human; Grayson (Drahm 70mins), Robinson (Howard 78mins); Budgen (Morris 70mins), Thompson (capt), Morris (Sturgess 54mins), Lord, Browne (O’Donoghue 68-73mins), Blowers, Krige (Seely 70mins), Soden.

Toulouse – Baby (Clerc 46mins); Thomas, Jauzion, Fritz (Heymans 55mins), Jeanjean; Dubois, Michalak; Collazo, Bru (capt) (Servat 52mins), Hasan, Lamboley, Gerard (Pelous 43mins), Bouilhou, Labit (Lacombe 37-43mins; F Maka 68mins), I Maka (F Maka 33-35mins; Lacombe 78mins).

Referee – A Lewis (Ire)

Scorers: Saints – Try: Robinson; Pens: Grayson (5); Drop-goal: Drahm.

Toulouse – Tries: Fritz, Jauzion; Con: Michalak; Pens: Michalak (3).

Yellow card:
Hasan (37mins)

Heineken man of the match – Mark Robinson

Attendance:
12,002