Blues 18-21 Northampton Saints

RUPERT MERCER watches the Rugby Blues lose when victory seemed certain, in their first match of full term.

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The Blues began their season with an excruciating defeat against the Northampton Saints just when victory seemed certain.

With two minutes on the clock, full-back Tom O’Toole landed a penalty from the 10 metre line, squeezed over the bar by the thinnest of margins to send an excitable Grange Road crowd into pandemonium.

However, their joy was short-lived: the Saints steamed straight back downfield. It was now the final play of the game and when Jordan Husband took the risk of chipping the ball wide the result hung in the balance. Cruelly for Cambridge the bounce was kind to Northampton and Tommy Bullough was able to collect and carry the ball over to the consternation of the crowd.

Despite the disappointment in the manner of defeat, the Blues can take huge heart from the result. Last season’s 17-7 defeat was described by current captain, Matt Guinness King as one of the team’s best results and certainly the side showed that they will be a force to be reckoned with come December at Twickenham.

The Blues had started poorly, conceding a try within five minutes. Saints shifted the ball wide early, a tactic which saw them looking at their most dangerous throughout the game, and Cesar Sempre ran in for a simple touch-down.

But Cambridge, led by the superb Donald Blake at scrum-half, were soon back in Northampton territory and only a knock on 3 metres shy denied them an immediate reply.

After trading a penalty and a drop-goal Cambridge were left to rue their sloppiness once again, after an incisive break from Mathonwy Thomas took the ball deep into the 22 only for more poor handling to spill the ball from the off-load.

A Northampton penalty was the only other scoring of the half. There could have been more, but Tom O’Toole made a saving tackle, ending a Saints move that had started on their own 10 metre line.

Throughout the first half Cambridge had looked at their most vulnerable when the structure of the play broke down and they came out after the break focusing on controlling the breakdown. This tactic soon paid dividends as the scrum drove Scott Annett over after sustained pressure.

But O’Toole missed an inviting conversion, the start of a nightmare ten minutes. Hooley chipped the ball wide and an odd bounce found Saints’ inside centre, Tom Stephenson, one-on-one with O’Toole from a standing start. The full-back went in far too high and was left flattened on the try line as the professional side stretched their lead.

Cambridge were not to be outdone. In a close to carbon copy of their previous try, they drove winger Rob Stevens over under the posts. The conversion left the scores at 15-16 and the tension in the crowd visibly mounted as a succession of difficult penalty attempts went wide, including an agonising long-range effort which clattered the post.

However, O’Toole kept his head and steered Cambridge into the lead from the ten metre line before Bullough stole away the result at the death.

Despite the result, the Blues can be delighted with the start to their season. The flowing rugby of last term was not fully evident, but Guinness-King will be encouraged by the control his pack were able to exert for long periods of the second half. Next up are Queensland University whose tour brings them to Grange Road at 3pm this Saturday. They’ll be worried after tonight.