Currently sitting at fifth in the league tables after eight matches played, the Northampton Saints have appeared to be a middling squad for the most part in the 2015/16 Premiership.
Indeed the Saints closed out 2015 with a dreadful loss to London Irish at Madejski Stadium—certainly nothing to inspire much confidence heading into the 2016 portion of the season.
A recap at Premiership Rugby described just how disappointing this end-of-2015 loss must have been for the Saints.
As fans who watched will recall, it was a back-and-forth affair concluded by a last-gasp converted penalty try that secured a 25-23 victory for London Irish—the club’s first win under Tom Coventry. The Saints took the losing point but must have been down on themselves given Irish’s last place position in the league tables.
It’s been something of an up-and-down season in general for the Saints, so perhaps the most logical expectation would actually have been for the club to rebound quickly from the disappointing London Irish result.
However, with the second place Exeter Chiefs looming as the January first opponent, the outlook was rather grim.
In fact, even beyond the club’s position in the polls, Exeter looked to be particularly challenging for the Saints. A match preview at Betfair Betting took a close look at the match with regard to both club’s recent history, and the picture wasn’t pretty for the Saints.
Exeter had won the last three clashes with Northampton, including both meetings last season, even before Exeter’s own red-hot start to the 2015/16 campaign. And a bad defeat may well have sent the Saints spiraling completely out of contention and toward the bottom of the tables.
But lo and behold, the up-and-down nature of the Saints’ season prevailed against the tall odds of the Chiefs match-up. The Saints didn’t do much to improve upon their awful scoring output thus far this season, but really managed to tie up the Chiefs in unexpected fashion, keeping things low scoring for an 8-3 triumph.
Match reports noted that it was the first time in nearly a calendar year that the Chiefs had entered halftime without a point, and in the end that defensive effort was enough to secure the win for Northampton (though Exeter took the losing point).
Now, all of a sudden, the Saints have some unexpected momentum heading into another difficult contest on Saturday. They’ll travel to Welford Road to take on the Tigers, who currently sit at fourth in the tables—and just four points ahead of Northampton.
If the inconsistency of this Saints side that was so reliable a season ago continues, then perhaps disappointment is to be expected. But after the surprise victory to start the month, the Saints suddenly have a great opportunity in front of them.
It’s highly unlikely that anyone is chasing down Saracens, but another win on Saturday will put the Saints in position to compete for a top-three position, and a salvaged season.
