Foden's on fire as he gets his own Saints song

It's not often a player gets his own chant at Franklin's Gardens.
Ben Foden scored twice against Scarlets last Friday (picture: Sharon Lucey)Ben Foden scored twice against Scarlets last Friday (picture: Sharon Lucey)
Ben Foden scored twice against Scarlets last Friday (picture: Sharon Lucey)

In fact, they only seem to be reserved for real fans’ favourites.

Brian Mujati had what could only be described as a noise as he was serenaded with cries of ‘Mooooooooooooj’.

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But Samu Manoa had something more like a song, with ‘oh Samu Manoa’ to the tune of the White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army regularly ringing out.

And last Friday night, Ben Foden was afforded his own song.

Having scored two tries from the wing, the second of which was a picture-book effort, members of the Gordon Terrace borrowed the chant pioneered by Wigan Athletic fans.

But rather than ‘Will Grigg’s on fire’, it was ‘Foden’s on fire’.

And the Scarlets defence was indeed terrified, as Saints ran in a total of eight tries in a one-sided Anglo-Welsh Cup affair.

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“I did hear the chant,” Foden said, smiling. “It’s always nice when the crowd get behind you.

“I don’t get as close to the crowd as that normally so it’s nice they were on my side and not jeering me because I dropped a few balls as well.

“It’s always nice to have the 16th man of Franklin’s Gardens behind us.

“It was good to see everyone turn out because I think a few of the boys were quite worried.

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“The gates opened quite late and a few people didn’t turn up until the game had started, but we got great support as usual.

“Franklin’s Gardens is one of my favourites places to play rugby so I enjoyed it.

“It was a bit different playing on the wing - my first start there for Northampton - so it’s nice to be appreciated.”

So would Foden fancy a longer stint on the wing?

“I’d never say no,” he said. “If it means I’m going to get on the field and start the game, then I’ll do what’s required of me.

“I think I can do a good enough job there.

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“I scored a couple of tries last Friday and if they want to pick me there again, I’ll do my best next time I take the field.”

Foden’s combination with Myler for the captain’s second try was a thing of beauty.

Myler sent a cross-field kick into the hands of Foden, who jumped to gather and ran in to score.

And Foden, whose first try in the game was his 50th for Saints since joining the club from Sale Sharks in 2008, said: “He put it on a plate for me, to be fair.

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“He put it right in between the winger and the full-back, and there was a bit of confusion there.

“I knew if I attacked it hard enough, it was a battle I was going to win.

“Plus, the way the rules are now, the favour is always with the attacking player in the air now, so I felt confident going up.”

Foden and Co will now look to take the confidence garnered from the Scarlets rout into a crucial Aviva Premiership battle at Bath on Friday night.

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Sixth-placed Saints are currently five points behind fourth-placed Bath.

And Foden needs no telling about the importance of the game at The Rec.

“It really is a massive game,” he said. “We had one eye on that game going into last week and we knew we needed to get back to winning ways, having lost our previous two matches.

“We righted the right, got some confidence back in the boys, looked good and slick and scoring the tries gives us a lot of plus points ahead of the big match on Friday.”