BATH RUGBY 9

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 17

Guinness Premiership round two

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Recreation Ground

Northampton Saints may have been wearing the same colour shirts when they ran out at The Rec this afternoon, but a very different team, from the one that turned at against Leicester, seemed to be wearing the new away strip.

The entire starting XV seemed to be directly responding to director of rugby Budge Pountney's call to be "in Bath's faces all day" because that was exactly what they were with new signing wing Salesi Finau being the first to respond to Saints' attitude. He was sent to the sin-bin in the third minute for a high tackle and Saints' captain of the day Bruce Reihana made the most of his infringement with a penalty.

However, whenever Saints won themselves a penalty, they seemed keen to give one away just as quickly. Bath centre Olly Barkley got his first shot at goal just four minutes later to level the score at 3-3. Reihana got his second chance in the 11th minute but when Saints gave away a penalty chance three minutes later, Barkley failed to capitalise.

Then the rain came, and the match took an entirely different pace with Saints surviving the conditions a little better with Matt Lord stealing Bath's first lineout and wing Sean Lamont putting in a try-saving tackle on Frikkie Welsh. However, the good work was halted when No 8 Daniel Browne was sent to the sin-bin for wandering into the path of back-row James Scaysbrook.

Bath tried to apply some pressure with a drop-goal attempt from Chris Malone, but this was charged down. Lamont then put in his second potential try-saving tackle on lock Danny Grewcock only for Bath to be quickly awarded another penalty as Saints were caught offside. This time, Barkley was successful and the scoreboard read 6-6 after 22 minutes.

The rain really started to pour down in the second quarter and knock-ons were easily acquired. One from scrum-half Martyn Wood led to a scrum and a crosskick from Carlos Spencer to Ben Cohen, but the latter could not quite reach it. Reihana still pulled Saints ahead though when the visitors were awarded a penalty.

Saints had a chance to extend their lead further when centre Jon Clarke chased down a loose and slippery ball towards the try line. Finau got back however and the chance was lost. At half-time, the scoreline was still 6-9.

Steve Thompson made his first step into the GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP when he replaced Academy hooker Dylan Hartley, but it was Bath that were given the first opportunity to increase their score but this time through Malone. However, he missed two penalty attempts and the score was still 6-9 after 52 minutes.

Reihana, however, made it 6-12 shortly after though when a back pass to Reihana from Spencer deep in their own 22 gave Saints the room to penetrate Bath's territory. Bath got one back though, through Barkley this time, and the gap was back to three points.

Another crosskick between Spencer and Cohen nearly reaped bigger rewards but despite not achieving the result they wanted, their ambition was heartening.

Bath had the opportunity to draw level in the 67th minute when they were awarded another penalty, but Barkley's toe seemed to stub the tee, and the ball just fell off.

Then, it came, the first Saints' try of the 2005/06 season. A ball popped up out of nowhere for centre Seamus Mallon, who throw a dummy before disappearing into the space ahead, and although he seemed keen to off-load the ball, his pace took him all the way for his debut Saints score. Reihana missed the conversion but the scoreboard still read a healthy 9-17. And there it remained to give Saints their first win, and an away one at that,

Teams:
Northampton Saints - Reihana (capt); Lamont, Clarke, Mallon, Cohen; Spencer, Robinson (Howard 86mins); Smith, Hartley (Thompson 40mins), Sturgess, Lord, Damien Browne, Soden, Fox, Daniel Browne (Lewitt 60mins).

Bath Rugby - Perry (Davies 40-48mins); Finau, Higgins, Barkley, Welsh; Malone (Dunne 74mins), Wood; Barnes (Stevens 59mins), Mears, Bell, Borthwick (Fidler 32-40mins, 58-62mins), (capt), Grewcock, Beattie, Scaysbrook, Feaunati (Delve 69mins).

Referee:
David Rose

Scorers:
Northampton Saints - Try: Mallon; Pens: Reihana (4).

Bath Rugby - Pens: Barkley (3)

Attendance:
10.060