Foden Frenzy?

Saints' comfortable 32-14 away at Newcastle threw  some of the current season's talking point into some relief.

First of all, it should have consigned one recently touted view to the selectorial dustbin - the idea that England should sideline their most important attacking force, Ben Foden. Journos, players agents, coaches, Uncle Tom Cobbly et al have been pushing the claims of (in no particular order) Delon Armitage, Mike Brown and Nick Abendanon as alternative England full backs, with the Saints player somehow providing an answer to the vexed question of who provides a spark at centre. Quite simply, to move Foden would be asking a great deal of a player who, as a scrum half, had to relearn the game from 15. To ask him to do so again because England have someone almost as good to replace him is, in effect, to avoid the initial problem.

The Saints win also underlined the importance of the man mountain that is Soane Tonga'uiha. He is MASSIVE, and that Saints pack never looks remotely as threatening when he is off the park.

Lastly, sadly, the win showed a Newcastle side that is gradually dropping off the pack. Like a busted cyclist half way up the climb to Alpe D'Huez, they will keep pumping the legs, but now there is no one in their rear view mirror, and little prospect of there being one for about nine months. Old boy Tom May's try to seal the Saints win must have been a bitter pill indeed.