No one at Northampton seemed too bothered when they lost their opening game of the season at Sale to a last-minute drop-goal. Yet, after returning to their spanking new stadium at Franklin's Gardens with a comfortable 31-13 win over Newcastle yesterday, the prevailing mood seemed to be far more downbeat.
After the game, co-captain John Leslie lamented the roasting his team were going to get from coach Wayne Smith for only scoring three tries. If nothing else, the Saints are proving unpredictable off the field.
In truth, it wasn't a performance to get too excited about - there should indeed have been more than three tries for the home side - but Newcastle never threatened the match until the dying minutes when Stuart Grimes picked a fine line to round off his sterling performance in adversity with Newcastle's only try.
It was a happy return to action for Jon Sleightholme after a two-year absence with a shoulder injury. The former England winger was on hand to put Northampton out of their try-squandering misery at the end of the first half when Nick Beal put him over, earning the Saints a 14-6 advantage at the break.
Newcastle were happy to still be in the game after their tepid opening period, but they were duly put out of it after 10 Northampton points in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Grayson kicked his fourth penalty of the game and then converted the try that Leslie claimed ahead of Ben Cohen, as the pair of them were driven over the line, each with a hand on the ball.
Grayson then scored and converted a try in the 70th minute - for a personal haul of 21 points - after a rambunctious run from Grant Seely. Only then did Newcastle mobilise their talents. Ian Peel was harshly adjudged to have been held up over the line, so it was left to Grimes to salvage the Falcons' pride.
As much as Smith's mooted rollicking, the crowd of 10,213 may well have trailed away from the game discussing the merits of Oriol Ripol on the Northampton left wing. In a game largely devoid of eye-catching moments, the Spanish winger signed from Rotherham in the close season lit proceedings up whenever he received the ball. He gave Joe Shaw a torrid time, twice beating him on the outside with barely any room to work in, the first such occasion being the prelude to what might have been the individual try of the season, had Tom May's jarring tackle not denied him yards short of the line after a mesmeric run. Smith can worry all he likes about ball retention, but he won't be able to stop the box office's excitement over performers like Ripol.
It never takes much to get the crowd at Kingsholm excited, but yesterday another healthy turn-out had more than just the traditional grunt and grind of Gloucester forwards to cheer. Despite falling behind to an early Mark Cueto try for Sale and only taking the lead with Henry Paul's try in first-half injury time, the home side devastated their visitors with three tries within 10 minutes of the second half.
James Forrester - the kind of fresh-faced, free-running forward that the Kingsholm faithful are so unaccustomed to cheering - got the scoreboard ticking with the first of those, before his magnificent break through the Sale midfield set up a try for Tom Beim. Thereafter three more tries completed a 44-8 rout of last season's second-placed team and hinted at Glouces ter's growing credentials as title contenders.
The team they hope to dethrone returned to winning ways at Welford Road. Most of the 15,387 crowd that watched Leicester's 30-6 victory over Harlequins were still fuming over the reaction of Clive Woodward, a former Leicester centre, to Leeds' late try to beat the Tigers last weekend. The England coach was seen in the Sky Sports gantry punching the air in delight, and Dean Richards had stern words for Woodward in the matchday programme.
All disgruntlement was quickly forgotten, however, as Neil Back, Steve Booth, Jamie Hamilton and Tim Stimpson scored the tries that were the bedrock of the win.
In the Celtic League League, title hopefuls Llanelli looked to be in comfortable control of their match at Caerphilly. They imperiously swept to a 29-3 lead after 25 minutes with five tries, including an early brace for winger Mark Jones. The afternoon looked long and painful for the part-timers from Caerphilly at that point, but they rallied themselves to score a couple of tries before half-time to recover to a scoreline of 29-15 at the break.
Then a 70-metre dash from Taunaholo Taufahema brought Caerphilly to within seven points after he benefited from a loose Llanelli pass. But Gareth Bowin steadied the Scarlets' efforts with two penalties, before making the game safe with an interception try. Gareth Jones and Sione Tuipulotu then weighed in with consolation tries for Caerphilly in a 43-34 defeat.
At the Brewery Field, Bridgend were impressive as they built on their victory over Newport last weekend with another convincing display, beating Scotland's newest super-team 41-9. Five tries secured them a bonus point, despite a lively opening period from the visitors, during which they took the lead with a Kevin Utterson penalty. Outstanding scrum-half Huw Harries scored Bridgend's first in the 12th minute, and Craig Warlow ended the game with 16 points to take him past the 500-point mark in 44 Bridgend appearances.
