Northampton vs. Wasps

Northampton:

15 Ben FODEN
14 Chris ASHTON
13 George PISI
12 James DOWNEY
11 Paul DIGGIN
10 Ryan LAMB
9 Lee DICKSON (capt)
1 Soane TONGA’UIHA
2 Andy LONG
3 Brian MUJATI
4 James CRAIG
5 Christian DAY
6 Phil DOWSON
7 Tom WOOD
8 Roger WILSON

Replacements
16 Ross MCMILLAN
17 Alex WALLER
18 Paul DORAN JONES
19 Mark SORENSON
20 Teimana HARRISON
21 Martin ROBERTS
22 Stephen MYLER
23 Tom MAY


Wasps:

15. Hugo Southwell (c)
14. Jack Wallace
13. Elliot Daly
12. Dom Waldouck
11. Richard Haughton
10. Nick Robinson
9. Nic Berry

1. Tim Payne
2. Tom Lindsay
3. Ben Broster
4. James Cannon
5. Richard Birkett
6. Joe Launchbury
7. Jonathan Poff
8. Sam Jones

16. Vladislav Korshunov
17. Sakaria Taulafo
18. Simon McIntyre
19. Ed O’Donoghue
20. John Hart
21. Charlie Davies
22. Ryan Davis
23. Paul Emerick

Cumbrian wrote: Northampton:

15 Ben FODEN
14 Chris ASHTON
13 George PISI
12 James DOWNEY
11 Paul DIGGIN
10 Ryan LAMB
9 Lee DICKSON (capt)
1 Soane TONGA’UIHA
2 Andy LONG
3 Brian MUJATI
4 James CRAIG
5 Christian DAY
6 Phil DOWSON
7 Tom WOOD
8 Roger WILSON

Replacements
16 Ross MCMILLAN
17 Alex WALLER
18 Paul DORAN JONES
19 Mark SORENSON
20 Teimana HARRISON
21 Martin ROBERTS
22 Stephen MYLER
23 Tom MAY


Wasps:

15. Hugo Southwell (c)
14. Jack Wallace
13. Elliot Daly
12. Dom Waldouck
11. Richard Haughton
10. Nick Robinson
9. Nic Berry

1. Tim Payne
2. Tom Lindsay
3. Ben Broster
4. James Cannon
5. Richard Birkett
6. Joe Launchbury
7. Jonathan Poff
8. Sam Jones

16. Vladislav Korshunov
17. Sakaria Taulafo
18. Simon McIntyre
19. Ed O’Donoghue
20. John Hart
21. Charlie Davies
22. Ryan Davis
23. Paul Emerick

Our latest poach is coming along! A natural openside too I believe, I'll be interested to see how he goes.

I like the look of Wasps centre too, I know they are down to the bare bones but it still looks an exciting combination. I will be interested to see how the young Wasps backrow goes too.

As a Saints fan I'm surprised to see Dickson as the captain and not Dowson, as well as Craig in front of Sorenson. On paper it is the strongest team we can pout out at the moment and I'm pretty confident of a win. 12, 13 & 14 look exiting for Wasps but I feel that Saints will be too strong up front for them to have much influence on the final result.

Where's Flutey by the way?

I was wondering who Harrison was. He's come on quickly.

Interesting to see how Craig, Launchbury and Jones go.

Just what we want another injury!
Waldouck crocked ref plays on & Saints saunter through a gap in the centre.

Deserved lead for Saints 22-9 half time.

Bad defending by Wasps but what has happened to the Saints scrum?

Is Andy Long really the one to step into Hartley's boots if the captain is suspended? Crickey, that doesn't look like fueling the Saints power race to the finish of the premeirship seson. But Hartley may be ajuticated and cleared based on no visual evidence of the actual bite occurring, circumstantial evidence only: hand near mouth, head face down, jaw does not apear to move, hand removed from face area with a divot, ascribed to be a tooth mark by a referee who looked at it for one second.
I think this is 50/50 unless there is ome other angle I have not seen.

Long's 4th choice isn't he? Any idea how long Haywood is out for? Sharman's gone for the season apparently

Disappointing result but Saints were clinical, and their scrum improved in the second half.

Did Poff get kicked in the face after a ruck? I thought I saw someone lash out with a boot. Next thing he went off with a blood injury.

I feel compelled to defend Andy Long here. For a 35 year old who started the season 4th choice hooker Long cant have expected to get many games, and he has stepped in fantastically well.

His set piece has been solid and he has contributed effectively in the loose. He may not be the best hooker we have at the club but has filled in exceptionally well during a difficult time of the season with all the internationals away.

In terms of the game though, it was pleasing to see saints throw the ball around a bit and score some good tries. The league position of wasps does not merit the quality of their squad; they are too good to go down and will leave newcastle adrift.