Northampton v Leicester

[TTRITH]

my ideal locks would be

4: Louis Deacon
5: Richard Blaze
18: Ben Kay/Marco Wentzal

[g]

I would like to see Erinle given some proper game time alongside Mauger. I don't really think he has been given much of a chance to show that he is the best player to actually work with Mauger.


No doubt Matt Smith will get the other centre position.

[westwinds31]

The whole "Mauger and Erinle" partnership is based on what exactly ? A winning try that they engineered between them at Kingsholm last season ?

Granted, Erinle can be a powerful runner with a solid defence, but there must be a reason that we are not seeing that he hasn't featured more. My guess is that in training he hasn't shown as much as expected, hence his lack of starts.

[Ben the Tiger]

my ideal locks would be

4: Louis Deacon
5: Richard Blaze
18: Ben Kay/Marco Wentzal

Wow! I had never thought of that second row partnership. That must be one of the best second row pairings in terms of fine balance and all round play between the two of them in the GP. A future England combination me thinks!

[pogue3]

i like seeing matt smith on the wing. he goes looking for the ball and is a dangerous runner with the ball.
rabeni should come in at centre
if castro fit then play him at loose.
personally, I would keep everything else the same as last week otherwise. Just rabeni and castro new to the side.

[westwinds31]

Interesting to see:-

- Is Jordan Crane fit to play ? If not, give Newby some more game time, he will get better.
- Does Toby Flood come back, or stick with DH ?
- Seru must come in at 13 for me and leave Matt Smith in his best position.

One point that hasn't been made - we're not playing well, we know that - but we're in contention in every game that we've played and haven't lost heavily to anyone yet. That is a good trait to have on a rugby pitch and with the talent we have, even playing at 75% we can still be in a position to win more games than we lose. Yes, ideally we would be playing at our best and winning in style, but it isn't happening at the moment.

Northampton are a good side at home, but we're more than capable of beating them. I just hope for a decent performance...that way if we lose, we have done all that we could have to win the game.

[MJ Chairman]

westwinds i agree totally with you We are apparently playing at the level of stoneygate 6ths during the 80s yet we still sit 4th in the GP and a better than evens chance of qualifying for the quaters of the european. We have as strong a squad as any and it just needs to gel which in the last 15 mins on sunday it did. Someone is going to get a tonking soon and it will grow from there

[Bill W]

An angle here, on the shoulder for the offload there. It will come good!

KEEP THE FAITH!

[boon]

i think saturdays match will be a close affair, and obviously i'm looking to saints to win this (so a bit concerned that barnes has tipped us on his skysports piece)

why do i think saints will finish on top at the weekend?

i think we have developed and improved as a team even since our last visit to welford road, and from what i've seen on tv and read on here, i'm not sure as much can be said for tigers.

home advantage & a winning run (though as yourselves are all too aware that doesnt always carry the day)

the 16th man - we've been in good form lately

whatever happens come satdee, i always enjoy the local derby matches, so its fingers crossed for a good game of rugby with no quarter asked or given, and let the result take of itself,

[john123]

I'll play Deacon and Wentzel in the row. They where great together lastyear.

[dailywaffle]

I'll play Deacon and Wentzel in the row. They where great together lastyear.

Too soon for Deacon. Didn't he say that the plan was for him to have 60 minutes in the next 'A' match?

[bluntiger]

Northampton to their credit have been impressive at home so far tis season:

Sun 7 Sep Saints 21 - 13 Worcester
Sat 20 Sep Saints 24 - 20 Wasps
Sat 4 Oct Saints 30 - 17 Bristol
Sat 18 Oct Saints 51 - 7 Montpellier
Sat 1 Nov Saints 33 - 20 Scarlets
Sat 22 Nov Saints 28 - 28 Bath
Sat 6 Dec Saints 66 - 3 Bristol
Sat 20 Dec Saints 23 - 13 Quins
Sat 3 Jan Saints 30 - 8 Bristol

But with the exception of Bath, they have not played top-4/5 sides ie Glaws, Irish, Sale and Tigers, and Bath came away with a draw.

Time to break the run!!

[boon]

i reckon saints run at home will end before the season is out, but i have fingers crossed it wont be to you guys at the weekend.

as it happens, it was bath who were lucky to get away with the draw. we crossed the line 5 times but david rose judged twice that we were held up. tv pictures didnt agree with him and the players still swear blind that tom smiths effort was grounded (perhaps admittedly suggesting - by omission- the other one was less clear cut). of course, moral victories like that dont count for much in the league table but we fear no-one who visits the gardens.

derby games are a bit more one off in nature though, & i suspect there'll be a right dogfight saturday teatime.