Northampton Saints make mark on world stage.

Another week at the Rugby World cup and the Saints stars have had mixed fortunes both on and off the field. I take a look at a couple of stand out moments.

Chris Ashton.

Saints winger Ashton has arguably been England’s brightest light in what has been so far a very unconvincing tournament. He capped off an impressive performance against Romania in which he swan dived over the white wash three times. At the moment Ashton is currently the tournaments leading try scorer with 6 so far. Against Scotland the winger looked lively and he was rewarded for his display as he collected Toby Flood’s long pass to score England’s crucial try to beat Scotland 16-12. He certainly should be in line for a start against the French on Saturday.

Off the pitch and Ashton has been involved with some antics with Saints skipper Dylan Hartley allegedly being disrespectful to a female member of hotel staff in Dunedin. All three have been made to publicly apologise for the incident by Martin Johnston. Let’s hope he can focus on getting some more tries and try to become the first ever English player to become the leading try scorer at a Rugby World Cup.

Ben Folden

Saints Ashton celebrates Sixth try of the tournament.

Folden scored his first try of the Rugby World Cup in England’s comprehensive 67-3 victory over the Romanians in Dunedin. Again Folden started England’s final pool match against the Scots and certainly made an impact for his side. In the second half Folden made a crucial try interception to knock the ball from a rushing Simon Danielli on the try line. The incident was a turning point for the English, as they eventually won the match 16-12 with thanks to Ashton’s last gasp try. The full back is expected to start against the French on Saturday.

Courtney Lawes

Lawes slotted immediately into the England side for their final pool match against Scotland after being banned for two matches in the first citation of the Rugby World Cup. He had an average match against the Scots, and was partly to blame along with the whole pack for the 5 scrum infringements in the first 15 minutes of the game. But his appearance against the Scots just shows you how he is rated by Johnstone in the England camp especially after two games out.

Dylan Hartley

Saints Captain Hartley came on for World Cup veteran Steve Thompson at hooker during last Saturday’s match against the Scottish. He certainly helped in the pack as England turned around a poor first half in the scrum. However Hartley was also along with Saints Winger Ashton in an incident involving a hotel worker Annabel Newton. The group have now been disciplined internally and England manager Martin Johnson was understandably annoyed by the incident.

"We investigated the facts fully. They have been disciplined. They have been reprimanded for their behaviour and left in no doubt. If you leave yourself open for these headlines to be written it drags us all into it and that is what makes me particularly angry."

Let’s hope the English Saints can dodge controversy for another week and push the English side to World Cup glory.

Mitch Freeley