Greig Laidlaw was still digesting another Gloucester performance that was part sunshine, part rain when he returned to Scotland to start preparing for the Calcutta Cup match against England on Saturday at Twickenham, a ground where they have not won since Margaret Thatcher was in her first term as prime minister.
Scotland may sit at the bottom of the Six Nations but in Laidlaw they have a player who would get into the England squad. His burgeoning half-back partnership with James Hook was a significant factor behind the 23-6 lead Gloucester established over the Premiership champions in the first-half, and as some of his team-mates became overexcited, he played a territory game that looked to have delivered victory until two late penalty decisions provided the Saints with the chance to drive a lineout and secure a draw.
“It was a good performance by us but a disappointing finish,” the scrum-half said. “We had done enough to win the game and I thought the penalties at the end were harsh. I am no scrum expert but we had the nudge on them yet we were the ones punished. What we showed, after conceding 50 points at Northampton on the opening day of the season, was that we have improved and we can take on the top sides.”
Laidlaw was surrounded by England squad players, Jonny May and Billy Twelvetrees on his own side, Courtney Lawes, Tom Wood, Alex Corbisiero and Stephen Myler wearing the opposition colours.
If Gloucester have recovered, somewhat, after a poor start to the campaign without looking like securing a Champions Cup slot, Scotland are facing a whitewash with their two remaining matches against the sides currently at the top of the Six Nations, with Ireland the visitors to Murrayfield on 21 March.
“We need to see a reaction after the defeat to Italy,” Laidlaw said. “We know it is not going to be easy against an England team playing at home with a big pack of forwards. I am not sure if it is a good or a bad time to be facing them after their defeat in Dublin, but they will be hurting and keen to get their championship challenge back on track.
“Ireland won the aerial battle against them but we lost it against Wales, so I am not sure if there will be anything to gain from that. We will put together a plan, one we believe we can win with. We have been doing lots of good stuff and we feel we are going in the right direction.”
Northampton have been going in the right direction for a number of seasons, the one consistent side in the Premiership this season, not forgetting London Welsh. They have discovered the way to win while being below their best, which they have tended to be since the pre-Christmas victory over Leicester.
After looking untroubled early on against Gloucester, they were routed at the breakdown, where a flanker England have overlooked, Matt Kvesic, stood out, and Hook exploited the space that came with turnover possession, stepping away from tacklers working loop moves.
Hook was at the centre of two of his side’s three tries but Gloucester were more adept at taking the game to Northampton than preserving their lead, which was 14 points after 45 minutes, despite Laidlaw’s prompting. Too many of the home side’s kicks provided Saints with easy possession and their second try came when James Wilson was able to retrieve a bouncing ball and launch a counterattack he finished.
“We were not happy with the way we played in the first-half, even if it made for a more exciting match than our recent ones,” said the Northampton fly-half, Stephen Myler, whose late conversion of Samu Manoa’s try on his 250th appearance for the club sealed the draw.
“I was proud of the character we showed to come back from such a long way behind but it did not feel like a win at the end and we have to be better than this going forward.”
Gloucester McColl (Burns, 60); Sharples (Purdy, 49), Meakes, Twelvetrees (capt), May; Hook, Laidlaw; Murphy (Y Thomas, 57), Hibbard (Dawidiuk, 68),Afoa, Savage, Palmer, Kalamafoni (Moriarty, 28), Kvesic, Evans (Stooke, 50).
Tries Sharples, Hibbard, Murphy. Cons Laidlaw 3. Pens Laidlaw 4.
Northampton Wilson; K Pisi (Tuala, 68), G Pisi, Stephenson, Elliott; Myler, Fotuali’i (Dickson, 53); Corbisiero (A Waller, 60), Haywood, Ma’afu (Denman, 49), Lawes, Day (Dickinson, 49), Wood (capt), Clark (Dowson,64), Manoa.
Tries Wilson 2, Manoa. Cons Myler 3. Pens Myler 4.
Referee G Garner. Attendance 14,857.
