Northampton v Wasps

[An Tarbh]

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Northampton v Wasps
Venue: Franklin's Gardens
Date: Saturday, 20 September Kick-off: 1500 BST</div>

Saints are without in-form centre Jon Clarke, who limped off in the defeat to Newcastle with a hamstring problem, for Saturday's visit of Wasps.

Clarke's place will go to either Joe Ansbro or former Sale man Chris Mayor.

Wasps will have new signings Serge Betsen and Mark Robinson available for the first time as they aim to recover from two opening defeats.

Captain Raphael Ibanez will be reviewed after suffering mild concussion, while lock Simon Shaw has a mild quad strain.

Ex-France flanker Betsen is fit again after a torn knee ligament sustained in pre-season while former Saints scrum-half Robinson has recovered from a calf strain.

In other injury concerns, full-back Mark van Gisbergen is reportedly making good progress from a medial knee ligament strain suffered in Wasps' opening Guinness Premiership defeat against London Irish.

Fly-half Danny Cipriani has resumed non-contact training after his ankle fracture dislocation in May, but is not expected to return until late October.

BBC Sport

 

[Vambo]

Wasps have been poor at best so far and whilst I'd love them to put Northampton to the sword somehow I can't see it. Saints to edge this one for me

 

[Vambo]

Ah well... with my Wigan hat on, at least it's nice to see Ashton get off the mark even if he's playing for a team called the [spits]Saints[/spits].

I hope Edwards can get them sorted for next fridays game at Leicester h34r:

 

[Goth Power]

It was a great performance from the home team, beating Wasps 24-20.

It was just a shame Chris White was so poor, we could of easily had the bonus point score if he didnt break the play down instead of keeping it flowing, and "Sharkey"? well, he didnt play very fairly did he! stealing the ball off his feet 5 metres from there own line and then Chris had the cheek to give THEM the penalty.

Apart from Chris's lack of knowledge on the game, and Bruce misssing 4 shocking penalties we should really of romped Wasps all the way back to london. Keep Myler on kicking please!

EDIT: Do we know why we both had a player binned namely: our Dylan Hartley and one of the waspies?

 

[SaintsFan_Schweinsteiger_Webby]

Best atmosphere there's been at the Gardens for a long time. You could tell this was a scalp all the Saints supporters really wanted to take. I think our work ethic and commitment made the difference in the end. Although the team is still a work in progress, this is the the best pack, and in particular back row, I can remember us having in quite a number of seasons.

As for Wasps, I've never seen seen them looking so shakey or unassured in their play. They put it together at times, as you would expect, but generally they weren't worthy of the CHampions tag.

Oh, and Chris White is still an appalling referee. It's nice to see some things haven't changed since the last time we were here.

 

[Bullitt]

What utter ********. Saints put in a frankly amazing performance to hold out a very good Wasps side who had clearly been given the riot act from Edwards after last week against Wuss. The first try in the 1st minute was a gift thanks to Josh Lewseys incompetence (and one Wasps fan still thought he was the best winger in England! :lol: ), but the rest was worked hard for and it proved to be one of the best games of rugby I've seen for a long time.

Key things of note;

- Sackey IS utter shite. Really, he's terrible. I will ban the next person to say he's any good.
- Josh Lewsey only gets selected because of his reputation and his name.
- Vickery still doesn't know how to scrummage. And quite frankly should have gone into the bin for putting his arm around Chris White.
- Sean Lamont clearly knows there's a Lions tour coming up. He's playing some superb rugby right now.
- "Allez-Allez-Allez... Wasps-Wasps-Wasps" Is really annoying
- Dave Walder is the new Alex King. He and Reddan are a superb half back combination.
- Ben Foden really isn't that good as a scrum-half
- JF Lobbes bone crunching hit to fold Haskell in half should win the Gillette Power award come the end of the season. But won't because Wasps players aren't allowed to look dumb in the RFUs eyes....
- Dan Leo is still a horrible Samoan ****
- Chris White actually had a good game.
- I am actually concerned with Reihanas form. His kicking has never been that hot, but his play in the lose isn't what we've come to expect so far this year.
- Carlos Spencer = God
- Roger Wilson = Messiah
- Judging by performances so far, Chris Ashton won't make headlines this year for prolific scoring but will get noticed for all his work in build-up play and is really starting to become the real deal.
- Stevie Myler has to become the new Saints 12. Downey is a defensive rock, but Smyler offers so many options in attack and isn't a bad tackler himself. Given a run he could well become the player of the season.

 

[SaintsFan_Schweinsteiger_Webby]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Teh Mite @ Sep 21 2008, 10:25 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

What utter ********. Saints put in a frankly amazing performance to hold out a very good Wasps side who had clearly been given the riot act from Edwards after last week against Wuss. The first try in the 1st minute was a gift thanks to Josh Lewseys incompetence (and one Wasps fan still thought he was the best winger in England! :lol: ), but the rest was worked hard for and it proved to be one of the best games of rugby I've seen for a long time.

Key things of note;

- Sackey IS utter shite. Really, he's terrible. I will ban the next person to say he's any good. Didn't exactly get the ball in much space at any point to be fair to him. However, it wasn't a good performance.
- Josh Lewsey only gets selected because of his reputation and his name. In a nutshell.
- Vickery still doesn't know how to scrummage. And quite frankly should have gone into the bin for putting his arm around Chris White. Yes.
- Sean Lamont clearly knows there's a Lions tour coming up. He's playing some superb rugby right now. He's always been capable, we just never used to use he correctly.
- "Allez-Allez-Allez... Wasps-Wasps-Wasps" Is really annoying Very.
- Dave Walder is the new Alex King. He and Reddan are a superb half back combination. King > Walder. His defense isn't up to much.
- Ben Foden really isn't that good as a scrum-half I think he and Dicksen compliment each other very well. Dicksen is more of a traditional linking scrum half whereas Foden offers more in the way of breaks and challenging defenses around the fringes.
- JF Lobbes bone crunching hit to fold Haskell in half should win the Gillette Power award come the end of the season. But won't because Wasps players aren't allowed to look dumb in the RFUs eyes.... Agreed
- Dan Leo is still a horrible Samoan **** Made no impact no the game, positive or negative.
- Chris White actually had a good game. No, no, no, no and no. My criticism of him is not only levelled at debatable areas such as contact area and penalty decisions. He made basic mistakes such as knock-ons and allowing Wasps to take a quick throw despite the ball going into the crowd. He was horribly inconsistent and often just plain wrong.
- I am actually concerned with Reihanas form. His kicking has never been that hot, but his play in the lose isn't what we've come to expect so far this year. Bruce hasn't been on the best form as yet, but I'm sure he'll come through it.
- Carlos Spencer = God Sometimes.
- Roger Wilson = Messiah Thought he had a fairly quiet game yesterday. Not a bad one, was just overshadowed by Best and Gray.
- Judging by performances so far, Chris Ashton won't make headlines this year for prolific scoring but will get noticed for all his work in build-up play and is really starting to become the real deal. Ashton was very solid indeed, particularly in his fielding on Wasp's clearances. A bit more work and this lad could definately be the real deal.
- Stevie Myler has to become the new Saints 12. Downey is a defensive rock, but Smyler offers so many options in attack and isn't a bad tackler himself. Given a run he could well become the player of the season. I'd like to see someone else get a chance at 12, whether that be Myler or another of the guys waiting in the wings such as Mordt or Mayor (who I have always rated highly).[/b]

I agree with your sentiments to an extent, as can be seen by the text in red. ^

 

[Vambo]

How did Haskell do?

 

[Bullitt]

He looked reasonable, until Lobbe snapped him in half at least...!

Seriously though, he didn't look anywhere near his best, but then again he probably had his impending ban on his mind. Joe Grey had him in his pocket for the whole game.

 

[Vambo]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Teh Mite @ Sep 21 2008, 06:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

He looked reasonable, until Lobbe snapped him in half at least...!

Seriously though, he didn't look anywhere near his best, but then again he probably had his impending ban on his mind. Joe Grey had him in his pocket for the whole game.[/b]

Cheers mite.
Just watched the highlights... Lewsey had a horror show!

Nice to see the ex League lads doing ok down at your place. Great pass from Myler for the last try and top notch conversion from him as well.

 

[Goth Power]

Does anyone know why we had Dylan Hartley and the other waspie binned?

 

[Bullitt]

Ben - No idea, but as it was both hookers I'd bet it was for fighting.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Vambo @ Sep 21 2008, 07:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Nice to see the ex League lads doing ok down at your place. Great pass from Myler for the last try and top notch conversion from him as well.[/b]

I've been saying for a while that he should be the choice 12, especially as he offers the kicking option which Reihana is lacking. Still, when Los retires in a couple of years he'll become the first choice 10.

 

[alexrugby]

Cngrats Northampton

I think this was not easy victory as 24:20 close edged scores

Reihana Ashton Lamont match heroes?

 

[Goth Power]

I think the whole team where match heroes to be honest.

 

[Vambo]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (LeksoRugby @ Sep 22 2008, 01:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Cngrats Northampton

I think this was not easy victory as 24:20 close edged scores

Reihana Ashton Lamont match heroes?[/b]

I would have thought that Josh Lewsey was man of the match for Northampton after he set up a couple of tries for them :angry:

 

[Bullitt]

If you believe the tabloids, Wasps definately lost the game as opposed to Saint's won. Because their the Medias Darlings and cannot possibly be outplayed by another team (a bit like Man Utd or Chelsea when you think about it).

Wasps put in a damn good performance, more then any moron would have you believe, but Saints were a much better side on the day. All this tripe about "Wasps were poor and that's the only reason it was a freak result" is utter BS from the same spin doctors who'd have you believe that Jonny Wilkinson is a good 10 or Martin Johnson is the right man for the England job.

 

[Vambo]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Teh Mite @ Sep 24 2008, 03:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

If you believe the tabloids, Wasps definately lost the game as opposed to Saint's won. Because their the Medias Darlings and cannot possibly be outplayed by another team (a bit like Man Utd or Chelsea when you think about it).

Wasps put in a damn good performance, more then any moron would have you believe, but Saints were a much better side on the day. All this tripe about "Wasps were poor and that's the only reason it was a freak result" is utter BS from the same spin doctors who'd have you believe that Jonny Wilkinson is a good 10 or Martin Johnson is the right man for the England job.[/b]

I've only seen the highlights from the game but from that and a few bits and pieces I've read about the match, I got the impression that Wasps played 'ok' and that a couple of individual errors cost them dear against good opposition.
Wasps haven't exactly hit the ground running and they were poor against Irish but they had a fair bit of ball against against Worcester and should have won that and would have done if they had hoofed the ball out instead of trying to offload the bloody thing!

I tipped Saints to win the Wasps game because I saw enough in their first game to know that they'll be damn hard to beat at home and not because I thought it was a good time for them to be playing Wasps. Saints fully deserved the win.