THERE WAS a worrying moment, if you are from Northampton that is, during last Saturday’s vicious, yet hugely entertaining, English Premiership semi-final at Welford Road.
As Courtney Lawes was receiving treatment on his damaged left shoulder, the Saints medical team were forced to split their resources to also check on the cornerstone of their club’s dual assault on domestic and European honours. Soane Tonga’uiha had taken a knee.
It was an old Peter Clohessy trick. Turns out the behemoth Tongan needed a breather (everyone did). There followed an audible sigh of relief from Saints fans as his 300lb frame stretched back to its full six-foot-four-inch height.
Tonga’uiha’s battle with Italy’s tighthead Martin Castrogiovanni and eventually England’s Dan Cole was an intriguing feature of the old fashioned, ding-dong affair that ultimately went Leicester’s way 11-3. It required two world class props to avoid the destruction inflicted upon Perpignan, and everyone else this season, in the Heineken Cup semi-final.
Tonga’uiha is joined in a gnarled frontrow by naturalised Kiwi hooker Dylan Hartley and the Zimbabwean Springbok Brian Mujati.
It is the best trio sterling can buy and there wasn’t much left over for replacements.
In contrast, Leinster coach Joe Schmidt can avail of Stan Wright and Heinke van der Merwe this Saturday in Cardiff but the damage, if any, will come in the early twists and turns between Mike Ross and Tonga’uiha.
Against Perpignan it seemed like the Saints effectiveness was simply down to brute force but Ross explains it to us: “Oh, it is a technical thing. They employ the French arrowhead formation which can be very difficult to counteract if it is done correctly.
“If you look at their secondrows, they have very good timing, they all push as one and, certainly, when you got guys like Courtney Lawes and Christian Day in the row, with a good bit of power coming from the back (row).”
Schmidt and Tonga’uiha crossed paths at Auckland in 2004 while Ross locked horns with him during his three seasons with Harlequins.
“He was always very good around the pitch when I was there. He was not seen as the best scrummager but that is not something you can level at him now. He has improved a huge amount since I last played against him and I don’t anticipate him being the same guy I played against before.”
Ross, a self-confessed scrum anorak – finally embraced by the Leinster and Ireland coaches as a valuable weapon this season – has been studying the Northampton scrum for several months on a hunch that this day would eventually come.
“I had half an idea that we would probably, if we got to the final, we might be meeting them. So we’ve been watching them.
“The two excellent props are led well by Dylan Hartley. They tuck in under him and they just trundle forward. It can be fairly hard to stop at times.”
Ross’s only previous exposure to a Heineken Cup final at the Millennium Stadium came in 2002 when he got hold of a ticket at the last minute in exchange for an old UCC jersey.
“I know how much it means to the fans but it means 10 times as much to the players. Our season comes down to this. All the hard work, all the graft that we started back at the end of June comes down to this. When it comes to the end of the game in Cardiff we could have our reward or we could have nothing. That is the way of professional sport.”
The result will probably be decided elsewhere but the first scrum will reveal how the game can be won. That is the Northampton way.
“It is huge motivation. Nobody wants to go out there and be embarrassed. We just have to get our own house in order. But we haven’t exactly come through an easy examination to date. We had Clermont and Racing in our group. We had Toulouse and Leicester. It hasn’t been an easy road we have travelled.”
