ENGLISH PFREMIER LEAGUE/Northampton 24 London Irish 22:ENGLAND CANNOT score tries but Chris Ashton cannot stop running them in. The Northampton wing would appear to be the cure for the men in white's touchdown phobia, but gone are the days when match-winning displays at club level are a passport to the international arena. What will count as the national selectors mull over changes to their squad in the coming week will be his all-round game.
Ashton, for the second time in a month, saved Northampton from a home league defeat with a last-minute try. If his job against Bath had been to finish off a move, he had more to do against London Irish, coming into midfield from a scrum, juggling Shane Geraghty’s inside pass and having the strength to force his way over the line to bring the scores level.
It was the second try-scoring pass that had come Ashton’s way. The first had been intercepted by his opposite number, Peter Hewat, who ran 80 yards to score the try with 22 minutes to go that put Irish in the lead and in charge. But Ashton is a player who seizes the moment and bristles with a confidence and belief that England lack.
The England attack coach, Brian Smith, was present. The impact made by Geraghty, who came on with 12 minutes to go, will also not have been missed.
“Ashton is certainly making his mark and scoring a good number of tries,” said the London Irish captain, Bob Casey. “He looks destined for the top and will be in England’s thoughts.”
The Northampton director of rugby, Jim Mallinder, pointed out how Ashton’s game as a whole had improved since Saints were promoted two years ago, and here the wing kicked out of hand with more thought than anyone else on the field.
London Irish were not convinced that Ashton had grounded the ball for his try. Delon Armitage, another player looking to impress Smith after returning from injury, harangued the referee, Sean Davey, after the score was awarded and had to be restrained by a team-mate, Faan Rautenbach. Armitage also shoved into Geraghty, who left London Irish last summer, after the outhalf had kicked the winning conversion with the last action of the game. Again Armitage had to be pulled away.
Armitage declined the opportunity to explain his frustration, but he had just about won his personal duel with Northampton’s full-back, Ben Foden. It was Foden’s pass that was intercepted and he conceded one of the three penalties Chris Malone kicked in the first half.
It was a match-up between two of the more attack-minded teams but the excitement, as has become the norm in the Premiership, was packed into the final minutes when the trailing side had to go for it. Despite a regular exchange of kicks, little was created from broken play: the three tries came from a driving lineout, an interception and a scrum.
Geraghty and Ryan Lamb were on the bench with Stephen Myler and Chris Malone starting, due to their greater goal-kicking accuracy.
Penalties have a higher value in the Premiership than tries, not least because so many are awarded. Davey blew for 30 penalties or free-kicks on Saturday, with London Irish deemed the prime offenders. Their head coach, Toby Booth, did not launch a tirade, confining himself to disbelief that the final scrum had been awarded to Northampton.
England largely reflect the state of the Premiership. There is an absence of daring and a reliance on method and with so many attack-minded outhalves omitted for more prosaic alternatives, too few pivots operate with their heads up in broken play. It is time for the mould to be shattered and the referees have a part to play.
NORTHAMPTON: Foden; Ashton, Clarke, Downey, Diggin; Myler, Dickson; Tonga’uiha, Hartley, Murray, Fernandez Lobbe, Kruger, Lawes, Dowson, Wilson. Replacements: Mayor for Diggin (68), Geraghty for Myler (66), Best for Fernandez Lobbe (54). Not Used: Sharman, Vickers, Mujati, Day, Dickens.
LONDON IRISH: D. Armitage; Hewat, Homer, Mapusua, Rudd; Malone, Hodgson; Dermody, Paice, Ion, Kennedy, Casey, Roche, S. Armitage, Hala’ufia. Replacements: Murphy for Dermody (54), Rautenbach for Ion (54), Perry for Casey (78). Not Used: Coetzee, Fisher, Ojo, Lamb, Lalanne.
Referee: S Davey (RFU).
