Saints FanStand: Beaten by a better side
Pictures by Linda Dawson
Paul McQuaid: Saints were beaten by a better side on Saturday. There’s no point denying it.
It’s not often Saints concede 50 points to anyone, let alone in such a high profile game.
Still, losing to the current Celtic champions and a side packed with internationals is no disgrace.
The likes of Ronan O’Gara, Paul O’Connell and Donncha O’Callaghan have been there, seen it and done it many times.
Saints on the other hand are a young squad (average age is around 26 years-old) and they’re still learning. Don’t forget that the club was playing in National League One just four short years ago.
What’s more, as any Munster fan will tell you, nothing in life comes easily. You’ve got to pay your dues. That’s why Saints have got to pick themselves up and give it everything until the end of the season.
They can now concentrate on the league and perhaps clinch the title for the first time in the club’s history. Or failing that there’s always the LV= Cup and a Heineken Cup place next season for the winners.
If the squad can survive, or even thrive, in the absence of its England players over the coming weeks then we might just be in there with a shout at the end of the season.
We might even make the top two in the Premiership and secure a home semi-final... in Northampton!
Jason Roberts
So Saints’ European campaign ended on Saturday in rather ignoble fashion at stadiummk.
Yet personally I couldn’t be happier, and I think Jim Mallinder secretly might be too.
Let’s be honest, the Amlin Challenge Cup is a consolation prize, the ugly sister of European rugby. No side that had genuine hopes for the Heineken Cup at the start of the season should care about missing out on it.
Ultimately, Saints’ focus now should be on capturing the Premiership. Not competing for it, but actually winning it. When Jim Mallinder arrived at the club in 2007, he inherited a club at its lowest point in years. He has performed miracles and has built a squad that will compete for years.
But it’s now time Saints stopped being the bridesmaids when it comes to semi-finals and finals in major competitions.
Two crushing (and in the case of last year’s Leicester game, incredibly unjust) Premiership semi-final defeats in two years, followed by one of the most spectacular meltdowns in recent memory in last year’s Heineken Cup final, serve as a brutal reminder that on the biggest of stages, Saints have come up short.
The Challenge Cup in the 08/09 season followed by the LV= Cup a year later show that Saints can win finals.
And in what could be Mallinder’s final season with Saints, I don’t think there would be a more fitting ending than the best manager we’ve ever had giving us our first Premiership title as a leaving present.
Callum Spires
With the Six Nations looming large, Saints are set to be affected massively for the next six weeks.
Although many may view the pillaging of Northampton players a massive blow to Saints’ Premiership ambitions, it may not be so.
At Northampton, we are finally developing a very promising academy, with a number of high quality youngsters breaking through into the first 15.
The next six weeks (especially the next two weeks in the LV= Cup) will provide the opportunity for the likes of Alex Waller, Mikey Haywood, Tom Mercey and Jamie Elliott to further their claims for a starting berth.
The next six weeks are not only vital to this season’s Premiership and LV= Cup campaigns, but they may also give an insight into the future of the club over the coming decade.
A large number of these youngsters will hopefully form the core of Saints’ squad for a good number of years, and now is there time to prove that the club has a very promising future.
If Northampton can progress in the LV= Cup, as well as maintaining their place in the Premiership play-off positions, then it is still conceivable that the club could finish the season with two trophies in the cabinet.
If they are to achieve that, we supporters must be with them every step of the way. Let’s put Munster behind us – we can still win something this season! Just believe.
Gareth Watkins
I can’t remember a week in which we’ve had to deal with the announcement of two such major – and so very different – departures.
Chris Ashton’s exit for Saracens may leave a bitter taste in some mouths, but Roger Wilson’s return to Ulster looks, at this stage, a bigger cause for concern for next season.
Luke Narraway has been talked of as a replacement and fits the Jim Mallinder signing template – English, on the fringes of the national squad and with potential to improve – and Phil Dowson and Samu Manoa are viable alternatives at No 8.
But if Narraway signs, then joins Dowson, Calum Clark, Tom Wood and Courtney Lawes in England’s Elite Player Squad, we’re going to be very light on experienced back-row cover during international windows.
And Saturday’s defeat to Munster showed how damaging it can be to be without even one or two players in that area.
Wilson’s consistency while performing with an ever-changing cast of scrum colleagues in the last four years has been one of his great strengths, and while he may not be an iconic leader in the Lam/Rodber/Shelford mould, his presence on the field offers great reassurance to fans, and probably to team-mates as well.
Wilson’s departure makes it clear we need to make our marquee signing for next season a southern hemisphere back row who can offer similar presence, power and performance levels.
Is there a new Andrew Blowers out there? Let’s hope so.
Josh Fehnert
Looking back 12 months you may have seen a very different look on the faces of the Saints faithful.
Unbeaten in the group stages, Northampton were poised to stamp their mark on the Heineken Cup, but hopes eventually ended during the second half of a now legendary final.
Last weekend it was another Irish giant and another second-half turnaround that cast Saints eyes unceremoniously back to domestic concerns.
Despite some valiant performances and some monumental defence, I am not sure that many Northamptonians would insist the team deserves to advance in this year’s Heineken Cup.
Dylan Hartley summed up Saturday’s loss to Munster in one laconic sentence: “You don’t become a bad team overnight.” And I think that sentiment is important.
Despite the fact Saints will not be advancing any further in Europe this year, and this week has seen confirmation of Chris Ashton’s exit to pastures new, there are still things for the fans to be pleased about.
A recent string of good results and an enviable third place in the Premiership are testament to the positive aspects of what is building in the Saints camp.
I am content that Northampton are on the way; beaten and bruised and disappointed but bound for bigger and better things.
Oli Gilks
This week really summed up how to go about leaving a club.
Roger Wilson, an excellent Saintsman and servant to the club, is unfortunately returning to Ulster at the end of the season.
Likewise it was finally confirmed after months of speculation that Chris Ashton will also be departing for Saracens.
Rugby is a professional sport and while loyalty should be factored into decisions, players shouldn’t be criticised for wanting to move elsewhere or look for a better deal for themselves.
The gripe in this situation comes from the way you go about leaving a club. Ashton’s apparent refusal to speak to the club and even consider negotiations was disrespectful.
Factor in his attitude since returning from the World Cup, before his ban his demeanour stank of a man that didn’t want to be here and had his mind elsewhere.
There is also the added factor of huge disappointment to be losing a player of his ability in his prime to a fierce rival.
The Ash-Splash which has brought me such joy will always be tainted when seeing him do it in a Saracens jersey.
Both players have done fantastic things for the club, Ashton no doubt more so.
But while Roger leaves with best wishes and thanks the departure of Ashton can’t help but leave a bad taste in the mouth.
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