Do you think Northampton Saints come straight back up into the Guinness Premiership next season?

Question

Do you think Northampton Saints come straight back up into the Guinness Premiership next season?

Answer 1

It depends on their results.

I can't see big name players such as Spencer, Cohen and Robinson, who have all suggested that they're not keen on ending their careers playing National One rugby, staying at the club and other talented players such as Kydd, Hartley and Lamont are likely to be snapped up relatively cheap by teams that survived the drop.

This said, the business is there. The stadium is there. The only thing lacking is a club. The team on paper this year was good enough to knock Biarritz out of the Heineken Cup but couldn't perform week in week out. That's indicative of a lack of backbone and will take more than one season to resolve.

I think that the Northampton pack will be particularly suited to the more aggressively contested rucks and mauls of National Div 1 but their backs are likely to suffer from a lack of opportunities in a league that seems like a great training ground for forwards but doesn't seem to provide much more than quick wingers and the occasional scrum half to the top tier of the game.

I believe that the state of english rugby... the state of any national sport actually - is better illustrated by the standard of the second tier than the top tier where individuals (and often foreigners) can prove the difference far more often between a victory and a loss. First Division rugby, as opposed to Premiership rugby, relies more on collective work than Top Tier rugby where attacking skills may be more in evidence but often to the detriment of defence and foundation laying up front.

The answer to your question depends as much on the management and funding of other clubs as it does on the state of Northampton rugby club itself - if a club like Bristol can achieve what they have achieved this season under Richard Hill then anything's possible but bear in mind that the vital ingredients for any team attempting to make the jump (back or for the first time) to Premiership Rugby are perseverence, team spirit and intelligence. The players on the team sheet are of little importance as each season new players step up to the mark and stake their claim not just as match winners but as the individuals responsable for holding the club together and avoiding relegation.

From what I've seen this season, the only Northampton players who did that were Budgen and Reihana.

Answer 2

Yes, they are too big not to be in the Premiership!

Answer 3

Looking at what Harlequins did they should, but the National League One is now much stronger than it used to be with teams like Rotherham Titans, Doncaster, Exeter Pirates, Penzance/Newlyn, Plymouth Albion and Bedford all beating the rest and really only losing against each other!

As long as Saints beat these six teams both home and away then yes they will come straight back up. I for one hope they do because I am a Tigers fan and the Tigers/Saints derby is one of the best games of the season for most Tigers/Saints fans.

Answer 4

No as they have sh*t foreigners playing for them.

The sooner that they get back to playing home grown talent the better.

Answer 5

Maybe, but Rotherham and Doncaster may have something to say about it.