Amlin Cup Final

Team sheets and tactics due by COB Thur
Predictions open Fri. Results due Sat

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Northampton Saints v Bath Rugby
White Cloud, 13 Degrees, 15 mph Winds

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Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit Chris

Northampton Saints have named their team for the Amlin Cup Final against Bath. Saints are looking to secure their second trophy of the season and have gone unbeaten in ten games, scoring four tries in each of the last nine.

01. Matt Mullan	09. Mike Phillips
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Matt Giteau
03. Carl Hayman
04. Patricio Albacete	11. Siti Siviatu
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Weslie Fofana
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Julian Salvi	14. Leigh Halfpenny(k)
08. Sergio Parisse(c)	15. Ben Foden

16. Rob Webber 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Matt Stevens 19. Bradley Davies 20. Liam Messam 21. Joe Simpson 22. George Ford 23. Chris Ashton

Tactics

Overall – Saints are on a really impressive run of unbeaten form and have now scored 32 tries in 8 games. The conditions are absolutely perfect for Saints to continue playing an attacking game and ask questions from the Bath team from the opening minute. We see this as our main opportunity to beat Bath and will look to keep the ball in hand, work through the phases and attack the gaps in Bath's defensive line. We will also utilise Halfpenny's boot to take the opportunity to get three points whenever on offer.

Our aim is to get our gainline breakers on the ball early (Lawes, Albacete, Parisse, Fofana, Tuilagi, Siviatu) on the ball early and get us on the front foot. With Giteau dictating play from the 10 shirt. Defensively we will continue to build around Lawes and Lydiate in the pack to prevent BAth getting any go forward and will look to really target the breakdown with no specialist no7 selected by Bath.

Attack - we will continue to play our structured game that evolves working through the phases, getting our big ball carriers on the ball and over the gainline (Albacete, Lawes, Parisse, Fofana, Tuilagi and Siviatu) and then going wide to stretch the defence and create space for our backthree to exploit.

We see we have an advantage in terms of attacking options and the form of all of our backline. We will look to get as much ball going through Giteau as possible, use Fofana and Tuilagi to get us over the gainline and then go wide to our backthree. We will also be happy to mix up our game and put kicks in behind Rougerie and North and put in a good chase game.

We will not be afraid to attack from deep as the conditions are perfect for our backline and with Siviatu, Halfpenny and FOden all on good form we are confident we can score tries.

Use our bench to up the tempo again in the final 20minutes as have a top class bench, all internationals apart from the on form George Ford - will look to use this as a key attacking option.

Defence - we build our defensive patterns around Dan Lydiate and Courtney Lawes in the pack, two of the best tacklers in world rugby and will aim to use them to stop Bath's runners getting over the gainline, with special attention to Lobbe and O'Brien - if we can stop their gainline breaks then we will go a long way to winning the game. As normal we will play an aggressive defence, putting our opposition under pressure, using Phillips to get at Wigglesworth and trying to get our forwards getting at Hodgson when possible. With Fofana and Tuilagi in midfield it will be hard for Bath to run through us and by pressurising Hodgson we feel we can scupper the Bath offence in midfield.

We are looking for our defence to put in the big hits that force errors and mistakes to exploit, this is where our backline can also capitalise – attacking from turnovers, knock ons etc and aim to really crank the pressure up on Bath. We will look to wrap up the ball and stop Bath going outwide - when they do we have Halfpenny and Siviatu who are both strong in the tackle and the best defensive 15 in world rugby at the back.

Set Piece – Bath have a strong front five, but the conditions are very good for encouraging running rugby and we believe the scrum especially wont have a serious bearing on the game, with far more emphasis being placed on the breakdown and lineout.

We've got a strong scrum with Mullan, Hartley and Hayman, and the power of both Lawes and ALabcete will ensure we get a lot of power in the hits. We will look to secure steady ball at the scrum, with Parisse controlling possession at the base of the scrum to attack from. On Bath put in we will get Phillips to try and fluster Wigglesworth and put him under a lot of pressure. Lydiate and Salvi have key roles in preventing Lobbe or O'Brien getting over the gainline here.

Bath seem to be placing too much emphasis on the scrum and withthe conditions this could easily backfire, as there wont be that many scrums - certainly not enough to base a whole tactic around.

Our lineout has three main jumpers, Parisse, Lawes and Albaceter - we will look to secure good attacking fast ball on our own throw where we can get the ball to our midfield quickly. Defensively we will look to make sure that we stop any Bath drives early on and are defensively sound to again stop the threat of O'Brien from second phase ball.

Breakdown – with Bath not having a specialist no7 we are really going to try and target the breakdown area, force turnovers and launch attacks. Salvi has been the form no7 in the AP and will help us get quick ball and maintain our tempo. With Lawes, Parisse and Lydiate we are very confident that we will get a lot of turnovers and in Fofana and Tuilagi we have two players in midfield who can help us slow down Bath ball and get turnovers. We will be aggressive in the contact area and again look to force mistakes by Exeter.

Key Points
* Great form, 32 tries in just 8 games – unbeaten in over 10 games now and that has brought a great deal of confidence this end of the season. Especially after we have already won the Anglo-Welsh Cup and have beaten Bath at the Rec, which not many teams have done this season.
* Offensively very strong, all players in the backs are on very good form and will look to attack Bath and ask questions of their defence.
* We will look to utilise Halfpenny's boot and feel we have the better kicker in pressure situation - he can score from anywhere within 50metres of the posts, so a very valuable asset in a final. Do Bath have a goal kicker of the same standard for a high pressure game?
* Really strong bench that will give us a huge boost in the final 20-30minutes of the game - feel there is much more to come from us from the bench to put Bath under pressure and finish strong.
* Very sound defensively - Lydiate and Lawes to lead the tackle count in the forwards and Fofana and Tuialgi will create a wall in midfield.
* Specifically target O'Brien and try and get Lydiate to tackle him out of the game.
* Will look to exploit Bath's lack of a genuine no7 and turnover specialist - very important in attacking rugby conditions.
* Target the Hodgson defensive channel with forwards, Siviatu and our midfield - he's tackling has improved, but will still look to challenge him defensively by sending different sorts of runners at him.
* Captains all over the team, Hartley, Hayman, Albacete, Parisse, Lydiate, Phillips...leadership plays a key role in finals and will look for these guys to see us through.

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Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Kevin Mealamu	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Davit Kubrashvilli
04. Louis Deacon	11. George North
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Maxime Mermoz
06. Tom Guest	13. Anthony Allen
07. SOB	14. Aurelien Rougerie
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Kurtley Beale

16. Jon Golding 17. Joe Ward 18. Dave Wilson 19. Rob Simmons 20. Beau Robinson 21. Chris Cook 22. Isiah Toeava 23. Olly Woodburn
Tactics

Psychological
Our players have a great season beating some big teams including Saints and we will look to get up for one final big game.

Overall
To exert our dominance off the scrum putting ourselves in good positions for our backs to exploit

Set Piece
Our formidable front row has been picked to play well at scrum time and to have a big impact in the loose as well. We will look to target the scrum as much as possible as we feel this is somewhere Saints are weak and we can really exploit. We will be looking to wheel and set North into a one on one or just use or power to force Saints into giving away a penalty. Lobbe will to control the scrum at the back. At the lineout we have options with Whitelock and Lobbe capable of taking opposition ball. At the front we have Deacon offering the banker ball.

Kicking
Look to rarely kick. If so look for an advanced position out of touch, or very deep behind back three with Lobbe chasing. Beale will be our main kicker looking to take on anything in range. Hodgson is another option who can kick the ball and if need be will kick.

Ball in Hand
Our game plan is based around our attacking skills with the ball in hand. With Healy, SOB, Mealamu etc we have some of the best forwards who can real make inroads with their running. We will look to make sure runners aren’t isolated with good tracking and will offload if there is minimal risk.

Our backs will be looking to get their hands on the ball and make attacking inroads. Wigglesworth will look to control the tempo of the backs. Hodgson is a sensible head while Allen and Mermoz can cause big problems outside of him. North and Rougerie are also big runners who will look to get their hand on the ball and cause problems. Beale will look to join attacks late, offering a good running option who can take opposition defenders and run through gaps.
Defence
We will look for a quick defensive line to put pressure on Giteau who we don’t think can handle the intensity of a big game any more. Our defence will leave Beale trailing to get any deep kicks. He will be able to either return with interest or able to make a good run.

Substitutions
We really feel our substitutes can come on and maintain dominance. We have three good props able to come on from the bench and keep the scrum solid. Simmons will come on and look to put in big yards and make his impact felt. Robinson can offer some good skills in turnover which will be key late on. Chris Cook is someone who can come on and inject some inventiveness into the game. Toeava and Woodburn are good runners who can really change games against tired defenders.

Points

Lack of quality FH - Giteau doesn't play flyhalf for Toulon and has struggled on previous outings in the S15. The Saints madfield lacks kicking options and we'll be expecting them to run all day.

Manu Tuilagi - We'll look to wrap him up early with Allens defence top class. If we can get the hit on early Manu offers little threat as he rarley passes/offloads.

Mike Phillips - We know he doesn't like to pass to we'll look to tie him into a battle with our fringe defence and target his poor service throughout

Lack of carriers in Saints pack - Look to wrap Parisse up early and we think Saints will suffer as they have few carrying options in the pack, with no go forward from their pack/set piece, Giteau will live off poor ball from Phillips and Saints backline will not be able to get into the game

LINEOUT - We will target this all game and if Saints suffer we will look to ping the corners now and again to put pressure on the Saints lineout. With no lineout leader and poor options past Parisse/Albacete we will look to dominate with our numerous top class jumpers

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This is a hell of a game also. Teams much more even this year

Good luck lads

A few big decisions with team selection for this week! Should be a good game - perfect conditions for it too!

Northampton Saints team versus Bath
Manager – Dammit Chris

Northampton Saints have named their team for the Amlin Cup Final against Bath. Saints are looking to secure their second trophy of the season and have gone unbeaten in ten games, scoring four tries in each of the last nine.

01. Matt Mullan	09. Mike Phillips
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Matt Giteau
03. Carl Hayman
04. Patricio Albacete	11. Siti Siviatu
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Weslie Fofana
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Julian Salvi	14. Leigh Halfpenny(k)
08. Sergio Parisse(c)	15. Ben Foden

16. Rob Webber 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Matt Stevens 19. Bradley Davies 20. Liam Messam 21. Joe Simpson 22. George Ford 23. Chris Ashton

Tactics

Overall – Saints are on a really impressive run of unbeaten form and have now scored 32 tries in 8 games. The conditions are absolutely perfect for Saints to continue playing an attacking game and ask questions from the Bath team from the opening minute. We see this as our main opportunity to beat Bath and will look to keep the ball in hand, work through the phases and attack the gaps in Bath's defensive line. We will also utilise Halfpenny's boot to take the opportunity to get three points whenever on offer.

Our aim is to get our gainline breakers on the ball early (Lawes, Albacete, Parisse, Fofana, Tuilagi, Siviatu) on the ball early and get us on the front foot. With Giteau dictating play from the 10 shirt. Defensively we will continue to build around Lawes and Lydiate in the pack to prevent BAth getting any go forward and will look to really target the breakdown with no specialist no7 selected by Bath.

Attack - we will continue to play our structured game that evolves working through the phases, getting our big ball carriers on the ball and over the gainline (Albacete, Lawes, Parisse, Fofana, Tuilagi and Siviatu) and then going wide to stretch the defence and create space for our backthree to exploit.

We see we have an advantage in terms of attacking options and the form of all of our backline. We will look to get as much ball going through Giteau as possible, use Fofana and Tuilagi to get us over the gainline and then go wide to our backthree. We will also be happy to mix up our game and put kicks in behind Rougerie and North and put in a good chase game.

We will not be afraid to attack from deep as the conditions are perfect for our backline and with Siviatu, Halfpenny and FOden all on good form we are confident we can score tries.

Use our bench to up the tempo again in the final 20minutes as have a top class bench, all internationals apart from the on form George Ford - will look to use this as a key attacking option.

Defence - we build our defensive patterns around Dan Lydiate and Courtney Lawes in the pack, two of the best tacklers in world rugby and will aim to use them to stop Bath's runners getting over the gainline, with special attention to Lobbe and O'Brien - if we can stop their gainline breaks then we will go a long way to winning the game. As normal we will play an aggressive defence, putting our opposition under pressure, using Phillips to get at Wigglesworth and trying to get our forwards getting at Hodgson when possible. With Fofana and Tuilagi in midfield it will be hard for Bath to run through us and by pressurising Hodgson we feel we can scupper the Bath offence in midfield.

We are looking for our defence to put in the big hits that force errors and mistakes to exploit, this is where our backline can also capitalise – attacking from turnovers, knock ons etc and aim to really crank the pressure up on Bath. We will look to wrap up the ball and stop Bath going outwide - when they do we have Halfpenny and Siviatu who are both strong in the tackle and the best defensive 15 in world rugby at the back.

Set Piece – Bath have a strong front five, but the conditions are very good for encouraging running rugby and we believe the scrum especially wont have a serious bearing on the game, with far more emphasis being placed on the breakdown and lineout.

We've got a strong scrum with Mullan, Hartley and Hayman, and the power of both Lawes and ALabcete will ensure we get a lot of power in the hits. We will look to secure steady ball at the scrum, with Parisse controlling possession at the base of the scrum to attack from. On Bath put in we will get Phillips to try and fluster Wigglesworth and put him under a lot of pressure. Lydiate and Salvi have key roles in preventing Lobbe or O'Brien getting over the gainline here.

Bath seem to be placing too much emphasis on the scrum and withthe conditions this could easily backfire, as there wont be that many scrums - certainly not enough to base a whole tactic around.

Our lineout has three main jumpers, Parisse, Lawes and Albaceter - we will look to secure good attacking fast ball on our own throw where we can get the ball to our midfield quickly. Defensively we will look to make sure that we stop any Bath drives early on and are defensively sound to again stop the threat of O'Brien from second phase ball.

Breakdown – with Bath not having a specialist no7 we are really going to try and target the breakdown area, force turnovers and launch attacks. Salvi has been the form no7 in the AP and will help us get quick ball and maintain our tempo. With Lawes, Parisse and Lydiate we are very confident that we will get a lot of turnovers and in Fofana and Tuilagi we have two players in midfield who can help us slow down Bath ball and get turnovers. We will be aggressive in the contact area and again look to force mistakes by Exeter.

Key Points
* Great form, 32 tries in just 8 games – unbeaten in over 10 games now and that has brought a great deal of confidence this end of the season. Especially after we have already won the Anglo-Welsh Cup and have beaten Bath at the Rec, which not many teams have done this season.
* Offensively very strong, all players in the backs are on very good form and will look to attack Bath and ask questions of their defence.
* We will look to utilise Halfpenny's boot and feel we have the better kicker in pressure situation - he can score from anywhere within 50metres of the posts, so a very valuable asset in a final. Do Bath have a goal kicker of the same standard for a high pressure game?
* Really strong bench that will give us a huge boost in the final 20-30minutes of the game - feel there is much more to come from us from the bench to put Bath under pressure and finish strong.
* Very sound defensively - Lydiate and Lawes to lead the tackle count in the forwards and Fofana and Tuialgi will create a wall in midfield.
* Specifically target O'Brien and try and get Lydiate to tackle him out of the game.
* Will look to exploit Bath's lack of a genuine no7 and turnover specialist - very important in attacking rugby conditions.
* Target the Hodgson defensive channel with forwards, Siviatu and our midfield - he's tackling has improved, but will still look to challenge him defensively by sending different sorts of runners at him.
* Captains all over the team, Hartley, Hayman, Albacete, Parisse, Lydiate, Phillips...leadership plays a key role in finals and will look for these guys to see us through.

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Kevin Mealamu	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Davit Kubrashvilli
04. Louis Deacon	11. George North
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Maxime Mermoz
06. Tom Guest	13. Anthony Allen
07. SOB	14. Aurelien Rougerie
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Kurtley Beale

16. Jon Golding 17. Joe Ward 18. Dave Wilson 19. Rob Simmons 20. Beau Robinson 21. Chris Cook 22. Isiah Toeava 23. Olly Woodburn
Tactics

Psychological
Our players have a great season beating some big teams including Saints and we will look to get up for one final big game.

Overall
To exert our dominance off the scrum putting ourselves in good positions for our backs to exploit

Set Piece
Our formidable front row has been picked to play well at scrum time and to have a big impact in the loose as well. We will look to target the scrum as much as possible as we feel this is somewhere Saints are weak and we can really exploit. We will be looking to wheel and set North into a one on one or just use or power to force Saints into giving away a penalty. Lobbe will to control the scrum at the back. At the lineout we have options with Whitelock and Lobbe capable of taking opposition ball. At the front we have Deacon offering the banker ball.

Kicking
Look to rarely kick. If so look for an advanced position out of touch, or very deep behind back three with Lobbe chasing. Beale will be our main kicker looking to take on anything in range. Hodgson is another option who can kick the ball and if need be will kick.

Ball in Hand
Our game plan is based around our attacking skills with the ball in hand. With Healy, SOB, Mealamu etc we have some of the best forwards who can real make inroads with their running. We will look to make sure runners aren’t isolated with good tracking and will offload if there is minimal risk.

Our backs will be looking to get their hands on the ball and make attacking inroads. Wigglesworth will look to control the tempo of the backs. Hodgson is a sensible head while Allen and Mermoz can cause big problems outside of him. North and Rougerie are also big runners who will look to get their hand on the ball and cause problems. Beale will look to join attacks late, offering a good running option who can take opposition defenders and run through gaps.
Defence
We will look for a quick defensive line to put pressure on Giteau who we don’t think can handle the intensity of a big game any more. Our defence will leave Beale trailing to get any deep kicks. He will be able to either return with interest or able to make a good run.

Substitutions
We really feel our substitutes can come on and maintain dominance. We have three good props able to come on from the bench and keep the scrum solid. Simmons will come on and look to put in big yards and make his impact felt. Robinson can offer some good skills in turnover which will be key late on. Chris Cook is someone who can come on and inject some inventiveness into the game. Toeava and Woodburn are good runners who can really change games against tired defenders.
Points

Lack of quality FH - Giteau doesn't play flyhalf for Toulon and has struggled on previous outings in the S15. The Saints madfield lacks kicking options and we'll be expecting them to run all day.

Manu Tuilagi - We'll look to wrap him up early with Allens defence top class. If we can get the hit on early Manu offers little threat as he rarley passes/offloads.

Mike Phillips - We know he doesn't like to pass to we'll look to tie him into a battle with our fringe defence and target his poor service throughout

Lack of carriers in Saints pack - Look to wrap Parisse up early and we think Saints will suffer as they have few carrying options in the pack, with no go forward from their pack/set piece, Giteau will live off poor ball from Phillips and Saints backline will not be able to get into the game

LINEOUT - We will target this all game and if Saints suffer we will look to ping the corners now and again to put pressure on the Saints lineout. With no lineout leader and poor options past Parisse/Albacete we will look to dominate with our numerous top class jumpers

Tasty match up this one, both teams rolling out the big guns!!!

Won't be able to predict on this one sorry guys!!

ITFL. have you not released Will Skinner?

Yer I have X_X

* Great form, 32 tries in just 8 games – unbeaten in over 10 games now and that has brought a great deal of confidence this end of the season. Especially after we have already won the Anglo-Welsh Cup and have beaten Bath at the Rec, which not many teams have done this season.

We beat you at Franklin Gardens this season as well so no lack of confidence her

Captains all over the team, Hartley, Hayman, Albacete, Parisse, Lydiate, Phillips...leadership plays a key role in finals and will look for these guys to see us through.

Would hardly call Lydiate/Phillips/Albacete a captain. Hartley is a bit temperamental sure he can hack it in a big game?

We hardly lack for captains, Mealamu, Rougerie and Lobbe captains.

isn't heavy rain this time though mate, and havent got Beauxis playing at no10!

good luck!

When you beat us I had no Healy, Mealamu, Wigglesworth, Hodgson, Allen...

And you mate

oi you leave beauxis out of this!!

Nick I'd take 5 points off him for that!

What I meant was beauxis wasn't there to help me score lots of tries but his kicking was very good and an amazing attribute to any team that has him!

Northampton 32 - 27 Bath

Great game. Front rows are even for me, with the engine rooms also hard to seperate. Back row for me goes to Saints with what is a very powerful unit. Backline in general goes to Saints with what I consider to be the best backline in the league. It has great balance to it and will cause Bath real problems although they are strong themselves. I am not convinced by the Bath centres which I feel lacks balance and a plan b.

Saints 43-38 bath

Try fest great game joy to watch. Wish this was my amin cup replay which I'm going to watch on replay now after work.

Front row to bath. Healy will struggle against hayman who has been great. Healy still weak at scrum but becoming a top international.

2 and 3 to bath but for me scrum not that important in these conditions.

Second row bath whitelock fab deacon lacking form and games
Lawes same but better player. Albacete a great but on last legs Chris needs second rows and would have played Davies.

Backrow all
Chris. Bath form issues a plenty there. Saints most in form back row going in lydiate and salvi. They will cause chaos.

Backs bath all power and a handful
But saints best backline in league at
Moment. Chris had
Massive form and injuries unluckily but has come
Good
Massively.

Much more wit and invention. Bath power causes problems
But lacks subtlety. Bath unlucky rougerie wiggles guest lobbe etc so lacking form as it costs the game. 9-15 Chris has
Top form and is literally on fire.

Apart from
Front 5 he would beat anyone currently. Bath power keeps
It close itfl unlucky to catch Chris in this form. Saints would pan glos sarries and falcons in this game currently

Northampton 24-28 Bath

Interesting game of different styles. Can't see loads of scrums but Bath will have a definite edge when they do pack down with a serious front 5. Similar story in the line out with Whitelock running the show with no line out leader for Saints. Strong backrows for both with Saints having more defensive players and Bath loaded with carrying options. Good pack battle with some in form players for both.

Phillips playing well of late gets on top of Wiggles but prefer Hodgson at 10. Strong centres and I prefer the Saints pair as a unit with a good blend of pace/power. Fantastic back 3s from both but I think Bath will see a bit more ball. Baths strong set piece and carrying options is enough for an in form Hodgson to pull the strings and get North/Beale into the game.

Pooly interesting how we see the game so different.

For me bath have such power but saints form and depth.

For
Me scrum not
Worth much in great conditions. Find it really interesting how people see
Things

Northampton Saints 32-36 Bath Rugby

Can see Bath getting control of the set piece here particularly the lineout. Saints have more defensively and hitting the rucks. Top defensive back row from Saints. Saints pack is lacking in ball carriers particularly compared to Bath but similar to Wales in real life they have the backs to cover this and it’s not a mark down for me. Halfbacks one a piece with Hodgson having more form pulling the strings at 10. Midfield battle goes to Saints who will have no problems getting over the gainline but back 3 is relatively even.

Possession is limited for Saints here and all though they will do well when ball is in hand they wont see enough of it to overcome a strong Bath side.

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Northampton Saints 33-30 Bath Rugby

Good set piece battle, prefer the balance of the Saints pack, back row battle is massive I can see Saints having some success at the breakdown due to the fact Bath don't have an out and out seven. Plenty of carriers in both packs, physically it will be draining. I like the combos in the Bath backline, power, pace and directness can see them scoring some tries but I feel the Saints have more spark and creativeness, really like their centre partnership and can see them making inroads to bring the likes of Foden into the game.

Northampton Saints 31 Bath Rugby 27

As Mat has said, Chris has some real form, both in this game and his players real life form is generally excellent. That for me is the difference really between two very good sides who should be competing at the top end of the table next season.

Just luke, driver and nick to predo on this one.

Saints 27 Bath 25

Chris side have the steam train affect with plenty of momentum

Saints 28 - 25 Bath

Advantage bath in the front row with a good unit. Really like saints Second row just not sure about the balance. Whitelock could have a field day at the line out here. Saint take the back three with a classy combo. I give them the HB's too although Hodgson playing well. Saints dominate centres but Bath have arguably best back three in the league. Think saints have a bit too much for bath, but they'll struggle with the set piece which keeps it tight. 

RESULT

Northampton Saints 37 Bath Rugby 32

Congratulations to Chris on the LV/Amlin Cup double, and commiserations to ITFL, it was a lot closer than the score might suggest.

Good win for Chris.

Although I think that score means I don't get HC next season

Nope, it means that you do. Chris was already qualified for the Heino next season courtesy of winning the Anglo Welsh. It will be top 6 and Saints in the Heino next season.

Had Bath won this game, it would have been the top 5, Saints and Bath.

Congrats Chris

Really??

For some reason I had it in my head that it Bath won the Anglo Welsh

A pleasant surprise.

cheers guys, first trophies this season!

well done to ITFL as well, you've improved Bath beyond belief and always a really hard game against you.

Wish it was rain and I had Haskell, think that woulda given me the edge

Well done both. Don't think anyone would beat saints at the moment itfl massively unlucky to catch saints in such form