Bath match a milestone for Clarke
Northampton’s Director of Rugby, Jim Mallinder, has paid tribute to Jon Clarke, who, when he runs out with the Saints on Saturday tomorrow’s Guinness Premiership Round 10 match against Bath, will reach one hundred appearances for the Northampton Saints first team.
Clarke has been a virtual ever-present this season, scoring four tries in his 11 appearances in all competitions, and Mallinder says that the big centre has been playing well.
“Jon always offers us something in attack and defence,” he said.
“He carries the ball well over the gain line and has good awareness of those players around him. But he is a good tackler as well and has regularly won turnover ball for us at crucial times. I congratulate him on reaching one hundred appearances for the Saints, which is a superb achievement for any player.”
Mallinder also warned that Bath should be treated with respect.
“There is nothing as dangerous as a team who have received criticism and Bath’s players will no doubt be looking to prove their critics wrong tomorrow afternoon with a good performance here at Franklin’s Gardens,” he said. “Bath like to keep the ball in hand and don’t kick it away that often. This means we will have to make the most of our opportunities and control the play when we get the ball ourselves.
“We will also have to show the same kind of defence that denied Newcastle any scoring opportunities in the second half at Kingston Park. We certainly cannot return to our defensive display against Harlequins, where we were sloppy in conceding two tries.”
Steve Meehan meanwhile is looking forward to seeing his Bath side bounce back this weekend after a disappointing result last weekend against London Irish.
“We are nine points off of sixth place, so a couple of big wins can get us right back in the game,” observed Meehan.
“There are challenges in front of us to achieve this, but that’s a test of our character and now is the time to show how strong we really are.”
“The London Irish match was a catalyst for us to sit down as a squad and look hard at ourselves – what we are doing well and what we need to improve. It was a frank and open discussion.
“It was good to get everyone’s opinions and to find out exactly how they were feeling and what they were thinking. It is difficult at the moment but we need everyone thinking positively – and then playing positively.
“It will be a great opportunity this weekend – Franklins Gardens is an excellent ground and we know our own loyal supporters will be making the trip to support us. The guys want to get back on the pitch and put in a great performance for themselves, the supporters and for the Club – we know we will then have an opportunity to win the game. But it starts with belief and performing to the standard we know this very talented squad are capable of.”
The Teams:
Northampton: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Jon Clarke, 12 James Downey, 11 Joe Ansbro, 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Neil Best, 6 Phil Dowson, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Soane Tonga’uiha
Replacement: 16 Brett Sharman, 17 Santiago Bonorino, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 Christian Day, 20 Scott Gray, 21 Alan Dickens, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Chris Mayor
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Michael Stephenson, 13 Matt Carraro, 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Nicky Little, 9 Michael Claassens (captain), 8 Luke Watson, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Andy Beattie, 5 Stuart Hooper, 4 Danny Grewcock, 3 David Wilson, 2 Lee Mears, 1 David Flatman
Replacements: 16 Pieter Dixon, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Duncan Bell, 19 Peter Short, 20 Daniel Browne, 21 Scott Bemand, 22 Ryan Davis, 23 Jack Cuthbert
Date: Saturday, December 5
Venue: Franklin’s Gardens
Time: 15.00 (15.00 GMT)
Referee: David Rose
Assistant referees: Don Helme, Bob Mullis
TMO: Matt Peters
