Northampton Saints: Mallinder realistic following defeat for a second-string outfit
Pictures by Linda Dawson
JIM MALLINDER admitted there was always a danger this could happen after naming an under-strength side to take on Bath at The Rec.
While Bath, languishing in 10th in the Premiership, sent out their strongest side, third-placed Saints, shorn of 10 players on international duty plus injured duo Mike Haywood and Jon Clarke, rested another six front-line players.
It was a recipe for defeat and so it was, but the club’s respective positions in the Premiership meant that they were going to take differing views.
After the heartache of falling at the final hurdle last season this five-try defeat was the necessary pain of keeping Saints’ big guns fit and firing for the business end of the campaign.
Mallinder said: “I guess there was always a danger of this happening when you looked at the sides announced on Friday.
“It is not easy to come in to a side straight away and perform. We try to keep all the players sharp with a lot of games for the Wanderers, but we have not had many lately.
“This was good for them. We came up against a strong side, but hopefully the experience will stand us in good stead in the long run.”
Just like the week before against Munster the one shining light in the wreckage of the defeat was the Saints scrum.
Except this week it was Tom Mercey, Brett Sharman and Alex Waller in the front row.
Their second scrum was a devastating shove that splintered Bath’s experienced pack all over the floor. But once again the power up front did not set the foundation for victory. Some questionable refereeing meant Saints never really got the rewards their scrummaging deserved.
This was especially the case in the second half with a scrum 10m from Bath’s line. The home back row were no longer attached as it somehow spun round 90 degrees, but referee Sean Davey didn’t see it and awarded a turnover to Bath.
French referee Romain Poite may well have gone on to give a penalty try just like he did against Munster. That would have drawn Saints to within five points and it might have been a different game.
But, in truth, it probably would have been the same result as Bath were by far the superior side in the second half.
A scrappy first half was a poor spectacle for a packed crowd in the freezing cold as the game rarely spluttered into life with Davey’s whistle and mistakes dominating.
Saints were on the wrong end of it with Olly Barkley once again in supreme kicking form.
With three back row players with England, Saints lacked experience in that department and it showed as Bath’s trio got on top in the rucks.
Saints never got much quick ball and so were often sent shuffling from side to side and rarely got their big runners over the gain line. Stephen Myler’s tactical kicking gave Saints a foothold in the game, but a makeshift centre partnership could provide little incision and there wasn’t much imagination on display.
Neither side could get any momentum until the 37th minute when Bath captain Francios Louw drove into Saints’ 22 to get Stephen Donald on the front foot and he spread play wide for Ross Batty to touch down.
It was relief for Bath, whose league form has been woeful this season. And a minute after the break they were given another boost thanks to some poor Saints tackling. Samoan international Anthony Perinese had been crushed in the scrum by Waller, but he powered through all the Saints front row to score under the posts. He stepped round Sharman and evaded three more tacklers after picking up a bouncing ball on Saints’ 10m line.
Saints’ pack got briefly back into the game with a well-constructed lineout drive for Waller to score, but Donald took over proceedings, pulling out holes in the visiting defence for Bath to run in three more tries.
Mallinder was disappointed with his side’s defence, but in the last 20 minutes Donald showed just why he is an All Black with some great attacking play as he scored a try and set one up for Olly Woodburn.
Saints brought their big guns off the bench but it made no difference as Charlie Beech added a fifth try against his old club.
“It was disappointing for us,” said Mallinder. “To concede a poor try to some missed tackles after the break wasn’t good and our defence was poor, we slipped off too many tackles.”
With nearly 100 points conceded in their past two games it is an area that needs fixing and fast.
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