BORDER REIVERS 19

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 29

Heineken Cup pool six round five

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Murrayfield

The altered venue of tonight's game seemed more important than the game itself judging by the fuss coming from the press box. But there was still a game to play.

And it set off at a racing pace with the Borders having the better of the opening exchanges. The home side were awarded a penalty just inside Saints' half and they opted to kick for touch. It was a good option as the ensuing lineout saw hooker Ross Ford charge down the wing for a try.

Saints came straight back though from the kick-off and moved straight into Borders territory to give flanker Paul Tupai the chance to raise his arm in celebration of a try. Carlos Spencer converted and then added a penalty minutes later to bring the score to 5-10 after 16 minutes.

And Saints looked to be heading towards the try-line again as the clocked ticked past the first quarter when Ben Cohen successfully charged down a Gregor Townsend kick and Tupai and Pat Barnard set to work making the extra yards. But somehow the chance went begging and, worse still, Borders reclaimed the momentum when a loose pass was intercepted by winger Simon Danelli for a second try for the home side.

Saints had to be a little more patient for their second score while both teams lost Tom Smith and Stuart Grimes to the sin-bin while they were given a little time to recover from a brief spat. During their absences, full-back Callum MacRae missed a penalty but Saints did manage a try. A lineout on the Borders 10-metres line fell neatly into Mark Robinson's hands for him to release Spencer who did the damage midfield to release full-back Paul Diggin for the try. At half-time, the Murrayfield scoreboard read 12-17.

The second half opened well for the visitors with Cohen carving his way through Borders' defence and then popping over the line before the first minute had time to complete. Spencer took the extras and Saints were up 12-24.

Cohen took his second and his 99th try of his Saints career five minutes later to win his club of 10 years the all-important bonus point. This time a Spencer kick glanced off a Borders player but was skilfully picked up by Johnny Howard, who headed off down the same central channel that was exploited by Cohen earlier in the half. Cohen was the man over the line though to take the scoreline to 12-29.

Saints then began to bring on some replacements and the flow of play was disturbed enough for Borders to score their third try through the nifty footwork of MacRae. He converted his own try to cut the deficit to 10 points.

As the game entered its last 10-minute spell, Saints had to put in some serious defensive work to keep Borders from the try-line. But the visitors were successul and relieved when the whistle went for full-time.

Teams:
Northampton Saints - Diggin (Laird 73mins); Lamont, Cohen, Kydd, Howard; Spencer, Robinson; Smith, Thompson (capt) (Hartley 63mins), Barnard, Gerard (Lord 63mins), Short, Tupai (Budgen 33-40mins), Fox (Lewitt 59mins), Browne (Easter 82mins).

Border Reivers - MacRae (capt); Danielli, Law, Rennie (Jones 26mins), Daniel (Robertson 13mins); Townsend, Chrystie; Kerr (Kalman 41mins), Ford, Douglas, Grimes, Palepoi (Vernon 71mins), Newlands (Dalziel 49mins), Miller, Brown.

Scorers:
Northampton Saints - Tries: Tupai, Diggin, Cohen (2); Cons: Spencer (3); Pen: Spencer

Border Reivers - Tries: Ford, Danielli, MacRae; Cons: MacRae (2).

Yellow cards:
Smith (29mins)
Grimes (29mins)

Attendance:
1,095

Heineken man of the match:
Carlos Spencer
8mins Ford try 5-0
9mins MacRae con miss 5-0
11mins Tupai try 5-5
12mins Spencer con 5-7
13mins Robertson for Daniel
16mins Spencer pen 5-10
22mins Danielli try 10-10
23mins MacRae con 12-10
26mins Jones for Rennie
29mins Smith yellow card
29mins Grimes yellow card
37mins MacRae pen miss 12-10
38mins Diggin try 12-15
40mins Spencer con 12-17
Half-time 12-17
HT Kalman for Kerr
41mins Cohen try 12-22
42mins Spencer con 12-24
47mins Cohen try 12-29
48mins Spencer con miss 12-29
59mins Lewitt for Fox
63mins Lord for Gerard
63mins Hartley for Thompson
64mins MacRae try 17-29
65mins MacRae con 19-29
71mins Vernon for Palepoi
73mins Laird for Diggin
82mins Easter for Browne