NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 25

LONDON IRISH 23

Guinness Premiership Round Five

Franklin’s Gardens

Saturday, October 15, 2005

For 89 minutes it looked as if Saints’ return to the Guinness Premiership was going to end in disappointment. But in the last rays of autumnal sunshine, and in front of a record Franklin’s Gardens crowd, Englishman Ben Cohen scored a try that could prove to be vital in Saints’ league campaign.

Like their two previous home matches, Saints came flying out of the blocks. A Selborne Boome lineout catch set up a drive, and Carlos Spencer’s delay in midfield allowed Jon Clarke to cut straight through Irish’s defence. But David Quinlan just failed to add the finishing touch, knocking the ball on just short.

Quinlan made amends two minutes later, pouncing on a misplaced Irish pass. Immediately the ball went to Spencer, and via Sam Harding and Cohen to Bruce Reihana. Reihana touched down near the posts, and converted for an early seven-nil lead.

Irish’s Riki Flutey pulled three points back in the 11th minute before the visitors took a shock lead. Mike Catt’s clearance from the kick-off found Cohen, who passed to Reihana. Spencer rounded Rodd Penney but Flutey snatched his inside pass and ran in unopposed for the try. Flutey converted and Irish were in front by three.

Irish were further ahead in the 19th minute, again thanks to a Saints mistake. A promising attack ground down at the Exiles’ 10-metre line and Irish turned the ball over. Winger Dominic Feau’nati had nothing but space ahead of him and scored in the left corner. Flutey’s touchline conversion capped off the turnaround, and from a healthy lead 10 minutes earlier, Saints were now 10 points adrift.

Reihana and Flutey exchanged penalties, before the Saints’ full-back’s second try pulled five points back. It was a well-constructed score, owing much to Clarke’s running. He bounced off several defenders to power into Irish’s 22, and presented the quick ball for Reihana to cross in the right corner.

Clarke again split the defence on the left thanks to a smart dummy, and Irish nearly had another breakaway courtesy of Phil Murphy and Declan Danaher. But – thanks to the upright – Reihana had the last word of the topsy-turvy half with a penalty a minute before the break to bring the halftime score to Saints 18, Irish 20.

Saints opened the second period brightly and thanks to Dan Richmond’s collection of an Irish lineout tap and a powerful Sean Lamont run, set up camp inside the visitors’ 22. Harding and Chris Budgen both went close, but the latter was deemed to have used a blocker and Irish cleared.

Having ridden the pressure out, Irish extended their lead to five thanks to Flutey’s third penalty a minute shy of the hour. This was compounded five minutes later by an ankle injury to Boome that led to the big Springbok needing to be helped from the field.
 
Lamont had a run halted a couple of metres short and though Irish conceded the lineout, Bob Casey won it well to allow his side to clear once more. This happened again in a promising position just outside the Exiles’ 22, as did the season’s recurring theme of the unbalanced penalty count. The visitors’ discipline held firm throughout the half, denying Saints a shot at goal, while winning several penalties of their own that diffused pressure, even if only yielding three points.

But for Flutey’s missed drop-goal and Juan Miguel Leguizamon’s dropped pass from Michael Horak Irish would have had the game sewn up with 10 minutes to go. Flutey missed again from the pocket seconds into injury-time, a failure that galvanised Saints into one last effort.

Man-of-the-match Damien Browne crashed into midfield, and Clarke was sent away down the left. Irish were on the back foot and conceded their first penalty of the half inside their 22 as Rhodri Davies was snared round the neck. Reihana took it quickly and Harding’s pass put Cohen over in the corner.

The try tied the scores, with the conversion still to come. Up stepped Reihana, and the roar told the rest of the story.

Teams:
Northampton Saints – Reihana (capt); Lamont (Rudd 85mins), Clarke, Quinlan (Davies 74mins), Cohen; Spencer, Robinson (Howard 57mins); Smith, Richmond (Thompson 57mins), Budgen (Sturgess 71mins), Gerard (Lord 61mins), Browne, Fox, Harding, Boome (Soden 64mins).

London Irish – Horak; Staniforth (Armitage 40mins), Penney, Catt (capt), Feau’nati; Flutey, Willis; Hatley, Flavin, Skuse (Rautenbach 62mins), Casey, Kennedy, Danaher, Dawson, Murphy (Leguizamon 40mins).

Scorers:
Northampton Saints – Tries: Reihana (2), Cohen; Cons: Reihana (2); Pens: Reihana (2).

London Irish – Tries: Flutey, Feau’nati; Cons: Flutey (2); Pens: Flutey (3).

Travis Perkins man of the match:
Damien Browne

Attendance:
13,262

CLOCKWATCH:
4mins Saints: Try and Con Reihana 7-0
11mins Irish: Pen Flutey 7-3
13mins Irish: Try and Con Flutey 7-10
19mins Irish: Try Feau’nati Con Flutey 7-17
23mins Saints: Pen Reihana 10-17
26mins Irish: Pen Flutey 10-20
30mins Saints: Try Reihana 15-20
39mins Saints: Pen Reihana 18-20
59mins Irish: Pen Flutey 18-23
89mins Saints: Try Cohen Con Reihana 25-23