To be honest before the game, listening to all of the hype & predictions, I genuinely felt Saints were going to win the final; simply because they were the best team all season by quite some distance, including a 90 to 0 drubbing of Gloucester! Saying that, Bath have had a really good season, especially with Ben Spenser & Finn Russell sitting behind the strongest pack in the Prem. The atmosphere was brilliant, a buzz around Twickers, I think Saints shirts slightly outnumbered Bath. One hassle is transferring group tickets to others in the group. Each person needing to download an app, create an account and hopefully get the QR code (do not take screenshots!). Faff squared! Life is so complicated these days.
A full house and a kaleidoscope of colour around the stadium. Anticipation all around. Four pasties needing a mortgage to purchase! The Royal Marines abseiled from the stadium roof, most impressively, with the match ball in bag. Fireworks creating a gun smoke smell, the national anthems at full voice, kids waving flags for all Prem teams. Banners, banter and beer aplenty. Best of all the sun came out!
From the kick off Bath set their aggressive brutal stall out! Underhill executing Exocet missile tackles. 82,000 fans wincing as he cut Saints players in two! First 10 mins it was all Bath. Saints Mitchell & Smith getting serious attention. The aggressive attacks on the Saints breakdown led to : multiple pens, turnovers, knock’s on and pressure creating situations for Bath. No surprise to see Bath collect 3 points from Russell’s boot (he did miss his first attempt).
Then the ref had to see how he could avoid Obano getting a red card. In my eyes it was RED all the way. Obano was going higher as he hit Saints Augustus. He knew his fate as he looked up to the screen and he could see no mitigation to keep him on the pitch! Only Bath fans pleaded a yellow card. Neutrals, many watching a game for the first time with kids, seemed bewildered what the ref was doing talking to himself on screen. Bath down to 14 men. I feared this would galvanize the Bath spirit. It turned out I was right but Saints delivered two quick tries and were in the driving seat. Bath had to score next and they did with a driving maul. De Toit a one man wrecking ball! Before half time the ref penalized Saints for being off feet as we pushed for the line. My gut feeling was the ref was giving them every decision. Video replays showed hands and heads on floor at break downs. That was a massive call and kept Bath in it for the 2nd half.
The second half belonged to Bath as Saints seemed to be only firing at 70% effort and connectivity. When Bath took the lead with 10 mins to go, Bath fans believed they were going to win! The noise was insane and the kids around me, and some pissed girls, we’re screaming for a Bath victory. This was awful. Saints needed some serious dog effort and Furbank going to No 10, replacing the injured Finn Smith, gave us hope. Then a moment of genius with George Hendy (given the MoM medal was mental!) breaking tackles as he weaved through the Bath defense. An offload to Mitchell, who still had work to do, crossed the whitewash and Saints were back in front. The conversion pushing us 4 points ahead. Bath had chances but Saints held out. Saints fans screaming for the final whistle. Clock on 81 mins, the ball kicked dead and Saints were Prem champions! Super happy for Lawes, Ludlam, Moon and Waller who had played their final game for the green, black & gold! Big holes to fill but satisfying knowing 13 out of 15 starters for Saints were English today!
I was happy we won, but felt flat. I knew we were 2nd best today and maybe if they had had 15 players could & should have won it. It’s a great end to a brilliant Saints season. Come on you Saints. Let’s hope next season is as good as this one just completed. One important footnote and putting the game and life into perspective, was the one minute applause for Rob Borrow on the 7th minute. I was genuinely moved by this sobering minute! RIP Rob!
Nicely done Bob. For any Saints fan there, and at home, it must have been a great feeling given the way that you have played in the league all season. I can’t imagine what it must be like knowing that you are the best team and then having to go through the playoffs and losing the final.
I watched the game and when the red card appeared, I thought that was it, game over. However, Bath hung in and they had strong performers throughout.
Given how it unfolded, not the greatest of spectacles, but tense nevertheless.
Thanks for taking the effort to write a post. It will be a record for ever – and you and Rosie were there to see it!