THE TIES that bind Munster and the Northampton Saints offer an insight as to why their on-pitch rivalry has produced three memorable tussles and the promise of a fourth in this evening’s Heineken Cup quarter-final at Thomond Park. The similarities transcend mere rugby issues, instead alighting on the prominence of the sport within the local community and their passion for it.
The Northampton Saints draw their support from a broad demographic in the town and shire that embraces all financial backgrounds in much the same way it would in Limerick. The town of Northampton is one of the few in England where the rugby club would have primacy over its soccer sibling.
Northampton Town FC – known as the Cobblers as the area is synonymous with a world renowned shoe-making industry – play in the Coca Cola League Division Two. They’re currently eighth in the table but their attendances are dwarfed by those that make the fortnightly pilgrimage to Franklin’s Gardens.
Describing the Saints faithful as pilgrims is a sop to the origins of the rugby club that date back to 1880 when a local clergyman, the Reverend Samuel Wathen Wigg formed a rugby team, drawn from “something called the church improvement class as a way for some high-spirited boys to let off steam”. The Rev Wigg was the curate of St James Church, from which the nicknames Saints, or the less popular moniker, Jimmy’s, derive.
Among the more amusing anecdotes in leafing through a potted history of the club explains not only how Northampton came to call Franklin’s Gardens their home but that they could, if they so wished, genuinely claim it to be a bear pit; an expression twisted into a sporting idiom to signify a volatile venue.
A successful local hotelier John Franklin bought Melbourne Gardens in 1886 and renamed it to bear his surname the following year. He then sold it for £17,000 to the Northampton Brewery Company who started making improvements including new features like “a running track, bicycle track, cricket ground, swimming pool, bear pit, a large ornamental lake, an improved monkey house and a larger zoological garden”. The rugby club moved there within 18 months and a venue once memorably described as “the Champs Elysees of Northampton” has remained a sporting focal point ever since.
Former Leinster and Ireland centre David Quinlan spent three seasons at the club from 2005-07 before retiring through injury. He thoroughly enjoyed the experience on and off the pitch and provides a snapshot into the cultural backdrop. “The club occupies a central place in the community. For an awful lot of people the focal point of the week is a trip to the Gardens. The loyalty of the support is a striking feature. In my first season we dropped to the lower reaches of the division before making Europe at the death: the numbers in the stands never varied.
“Rugby gives them their identity. In walking around the town everyone knows who you are and they’re hugely supportive whether it’s a word of congratulation or consolation, or a pat on the back.
“That type of environment is very uplifting for a player. There would be a broad spectrum of demographics from an industrial town to some of the surrounding villages where the affluence is obvious from the sizeable dwellings. There are some beautiful villages where many of the wealthy inhabitants would commute down to London to work.”
Quinlan explained that those who walk through the turnstiles at Franklin’s Gardens are united by a passion for the club, irrespective of background. “In all my days of watching and playing sport I have never come across fervor like it.”
They easily embrace those who travel from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina to wear the club colours: a contingent of Irish players has helped shape their history. Four – wing Niall Bailey, hooker and the current Ireland Under-20 coach Allen Clarke, centre Jonathan Bell and Quinlan – were capped while Saints.
Three Irishmen, Neil Best, Roger Wilson and James Downey will try to pen a new chapter this afternoon in Limerick, while a fourth, Saints’ team manager, the former Ulster hooker Paul Shields, will be able to add to the tapestry of knowledge gleaned over a longer period than just the two matches between the teams this season.
Supporters can’t shape a team but they define the values that are cherished in the terraces. Investing so much emotional content and pride their feelings are easily communicated to those who carry their hopes on to the pitch: like Gloucester and the Leicester Tigers, Northampton teams have an abrasive veneer.
In the 1920s and ’30s Saints gained a reputation for producing big, bruising forwards, several of whom played for England, notably Billy Weston, Ray Longland and Freddie Blakiston, while after the second World War it was backs like Louis Cannell, Jeff Butterfield and Dickie Jeeps that captivated a town.
The current squad doffs a cap to both traditions. New Zealand-born, England international Dylan Hartley leads a pack, indeed a team that is capable of brutal power. Scotland international Euan Murray is the cornerstone of the scrum, a destructive, malign presence for opposing loosehead props. The tug of love between the Saints and Saracens about which club will be able to field Tongan colossus Soane Tonga’huia next season shouldn’t preclude him from starting at Thomond Park.
South African Brian Mujati is a decent alternative but he doesn’t quite skittle defenders in the same way. In the two pool matches this season the Saints have demonstrated that they possess the set-piece aggression to cause serious problems for the home side.
The backline is an amalgam of power, pace and trickery, exemplified by players like the inform Chris Ashton and Ben Foden. And coach Jim Mallinder revealed his game plan when deciding on Stephen Myler at outhalf over Shane Geraghty.
Northampton possess the tools to prevail but despite their recent LV Cup success may lack the mental strength and possibly discipline to succeed when the blast furnace doors are thrown wide open in Limerick this evening.
Saints on a Mission
A list of Northampton touring players
1955 South AfricaJeff Butterfield, Dickie Jeeps,
Frank Sykes
1959 Australia, New ZealandJeff Butterfield, Dickie Jeeps
1962 South AfricaDickie Jeeps
1966 New ZealandDavid Powell, Keith Savage
1968 South AfricaPeter Larter, Keith Savage, Bob Taylor, Bryan West
1993 New ZealandMartin Bayfield, Ian Hunter
1997 South AfricaNick Beal, Matt Dawson, Paul Grayson, Tim Rodber Gregor Townsend,
Ian McGeechan (coach)
2001 AustraliaBen Cohen, Matt Dawson
2005 New ZealandSteve Thompson
2009 South AfricaEuan Murray
IRELAND PLAYERS TO HAVE BEEN CAPPED WHILE AT NORTHAMPTON
Niall Bailey (wing) 1 cap.
Allen Clarke (hooker) 8 caps
Jonathan Bell (centre) 36 caps
David Quinlan (centre) 2 caps
