Matt Dawson gave England boss Clive Woodward a timely reminder of his talents
with a fine display in Northampton's convincing victory over Bath at Franklins
Gardens on Saturday afternoon.
Dawson was in inspirational form at scrum-half, keeping the Saints moving
forward with some slick passing and sniping runs round the fringes.
His job was made all the easier by the dominance of the Northampton pack who
flattened Bath up-front, even though the west country outfit had named club
captain and England lock Danny Grewcock in their starting line-up.
Grewcock, whose appeal against a 35-day RFU ban for kicking allowed him to
play today, was largely anonymous but the same could not be said for former
Wallaby Mark Connors - the player rejected by Bath in during the summer.
Connors' move to the Recreation Ground collapsed in acrimonious fashion and
the Australian could yet initiate legal proceedings against the fallen kings of
English rugby.
But revenge must have been sweet as he made a major contribution to
Northampton's dominant forward effort, with England hooker Steve Thompson also
making his presence felt.
Spanish winger Oriol Ripol was a handful behind the scrum and touched down for
a try while Peter Jorgensen added a brace - all three scores coming in a
scintillating first half.
Saints' performance tailed off after the interval as Bath finally began to
ignite but their lack of a cutting edge combined with Northampton's steely
defence ensured the home side had already done enough to win, winger Ben Cohen
touching down late in the game to round off the afternoon.
It took Northampton just seven minutes to unlock the Bath defence which had
been subjected to a torrid opening spell.
Dawson was the provider, making a dashing break from a ruck before offloading
to his support who fed the ball wide to Ripol.
The livewire winger, some 10 metres from the line, scampered under the Bath
cover to touch down, with Paul Grayson adding the extras.
Saints continued to look the more threatening side in attack and it only
seemed a matter of time before they added another try - and it duly arrived in
the 23rd minute.
Full-back Nick Beal was heavily involved this time, beginning the initial
break from deep inside his own half and then several passes later providing the
final pass to Australian centre Jorgensen who had an easy run in.
Bath were looking jaded in the face of Northampton's policy of all-out attack
and six minutes later they fell further behind, with a heavily marked Dawson
slipping a short pass to Jorgensen who ran in his second of the afternoon.
Grayson booted the conversion before Bath finally got themselves on the
scoresheet, a long-range penalty from Olly Barkley reducing the deficit to
19-0.
Saints almost touched down in the dying moments of the half only for sloppy
passing to deny Ripol when he had the line at his mercy.
Bath started brightly after the break and took full control for the next 20
minutes but had nothing to show for their efforts, with Barkley missing a
penalty.
Centre Mike Tindall was sin-binned for deliberately knocking the ball forward
in the 67th minute to add to the visitors' woes but the numbers were evened up
moments later when stamping substitute Robbie Morris was also given 10 minutes.
Both teams started to throw the ball around but Saints were back in control
now, finally ending Bath's increasingly feeble resistance with Cohen's try in
the dying moments.
Teams
Northampton: Beal, Ripol,
Jorgensen, Leslie, Cohen, Grayson,
Dawson, Smith, Thompson, Stewart, Phillips, Connors, Blowers,
Pountney, Seely.
Not Used: Richmond, Morris, Hunter, Soden, Brooks, Tucker,
Sleightholme.
Tries: Ripol, Jorgensen 2, Cohen.
Cons: Grayson 2.
Bath: Barkley, Danilli, Crockett, Tindall, Voyce, Malone,
Cooper, Emms, Humphries, Galasso, Beattie, Grewcock, G. Thomas,
Lyle, N. Thomas.
Not Used: Blake, Mears, Barnes, Thirlby, Scaysbrook, Lloyd,
Mallett.
Bath: Pens: Barkley.
Att: 9,560
Ref: David McHugh (Ireland).
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