NORTHAMPTON SAINTS  24

GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP round four

Kingsholm

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Saints came close to their second west-country victory of the season as they earned a losing bonus point at Kingsholm. That they didn’t come away with the win - having led by eight points at the break - must be laid in part at a deterioration of discipline that saw three second-half yellow cards.

After an opening 15 minutes that, although cagey, were just edged by Gloucester, Saints took the lead through Steve Thompson's first try of the season. It was a score made by Carlos Spencer - firstly by kicking long then having the vision to chip the line and collect when Ludovic Mercier's return found its way to the Kiwi. Spencer committed Rob Thirlby and passed to Thompson for the try. Bruce Reihana converted and Saints were seven-nil up.

Saints worked a try-scoring chance in their next play. Darren Fox won the ball well in a lineout and David Quinlan put Jon Clarke straight through a midfield gap. Sean Lamont was in support and was pulled down just short. The ball was recycled quickly but Thirlby was offside and pulled Mark Robinson down. Gloucester's fullback saw yellow but Reihana couldn’t punish the indiscretion, missing the subsequent penalty.

It proved to be a costly miss as, in the next passage of play following the long 22 drop-out, Saints conceded a penalty. Scrum-half Peter Richards, seeing only forwards in front of him, tapped quickly and went straight through the line. He scored between the posts and with Mercier's simple conversion Gloucester were level.

Two Mercier penalties extended the Cherry and Whites' lead to six as the home forwards dominated their Saint counterparts, especially in the scrum. But then against the run of play Saints scored again. This time the defence created the chance, forcing Mike Tindall to fumble Henry Paul's tapped pass. Clarke snapped up the loose ball and eluded the despairing Thirlby to score between the posts. Reihana converted and Saints were back in front by a point.

The pressure up front was compounded when Dylan Hartley became the second player of the half to see yellow. But as with the first sinbinning, all this did was galvanise the team with 14 men.

Spencer showed great anticipation by intercepting Richards' pass from a ruck. Not having the pace to round Mark Foster, Spencer waited for support at the Gloucester 22. Phases were worked, Lamont went close and Thompson passed over the tackler to Damien Browne who crossed. Reihana's third conversion made it 21-13 to Saints at the break.

Mercier blew a gilt-edged opportunity five minutes into the second period when he dropped the ball metres short and as with the first half the hosts were in the ascendancy.

Then Saints' cool collapsed completely. Tom Smith was yellow-carded, followed a minute later by Dan Richmond. Gloucester continued with lineouts rather than scrums and were held up over the line. There then followed several minutes of negotiations over the question of uncontested scrums, eventually resolved in favour of the visitors. It made no difference as Jake Boer dived over for a try in the corner. Mercier missed the touchline conversion and Saints were still three points to the good.

It became a four-point deficit in the 67th minute when James Simpson-Daniel pounced on Reihana's pass to score a try between the posts, converted by Mercier. And Saints were still short of a full compliment of players after Thompson's 69th minute sinbinning.

Reihana's first successful penalty brought Saints to within a point after Selborne Boome and Lamont had gone close. Mercier answered in kind as the clock ticked past 80 to restore Gloucester's four-point advantage, and that, aside from Ben Cohen’s beating of Foster to a touchdown, was the last scoring opportunity of a game that will live long in the memory.

Teams:
Gloucester – Thirlby (Goodridge 76mins); Foster, Tindall (capt), Paul, Simpson-Daniel; Mercier, Richards (Thomas 51mins); Collazo, Azam (Davies 76mins), Powell, Eustace, Brown, Buxton, Boer (Hazell 76mins), Forrester.

Northampton Saints – Reihana (capt); Lamont, Clarke, Quinlan, Cohen; Spencer, Robinson; Smith, Hartley (Richmond 47mins), Budgen (Sturgess 64mins), Lord (Boome 55mins), Damien Browne, Thompson, Fox, Easter (Richmond 40+5-47mins (Sturgess 58mins) (Soden 68mins)).

Scorers:
Gloucester – Tries: Richards, Boer, Simpson-Daniel; Con: Mercier; Pens: Mercier (2).

Northampton Saints – Tries: Thompson, Clarke, Browne; Cons: Reihana (3).

Yellow cards:
Thirlby (16mins)
Hartley (39mins)
Smith (53mins)
Richmond (54mins)
Thompson (69mins)

Attendance:
11,076

CLOCKWATCH:
14mins    Saints: Try Thompson; Con: Reihana 0-7
16mins    Glos: Yellow card Thirlby
20mins    Glos: Try Richards; Con Mercier 7-7
26mins    Glos: Pen Mercier 10-7
33mins    Glos: Pen Mercier 13-7
37mins    Saints: Try Clarke; Con Reihana 13-14
39mins    Saints: Yellow card Hartley
40+3mins Saints: Try Browne; Con Reihana 13-21
53mins    Saints: Yellow card Smith
54mins    Saints: Yellow card Richmond
60mins    Glos: Try Boer 18-21
67mins    Glos: Try Simpson-Daniel; Con Mercier 25-21
69mins    Saints: Yellow card Thompson
76mins    Saints: Pen Reihana 25-24
81mins    Glos: Pen Mercier 28-24