Tommy Freeman and James Pater both struck hat-tricks against Newcastle Red Bulls as Northampton Saints made a winning start to their Gallagher PREM title defence at a sold-out DPD Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens.
A frenetic first half delivered seven tries, five of them from the men in Black, Green and Gold, as Pater struck twice and George Hendy, Freeman and Alex Coles also crossed.
Saints added four more after the break, as Freeman’ brace secured the seventh treble of his Saints career, Pater completed his hat-trick, and Ollie Sleightholme touched down to secure a comprehensive 59-26 success.
FIRST HALF:
Saints opened the scoring after just five minutes, from an attack that began inside their own half when Ed Prowse scooped up a loose ball from the deck. A subsequent penalty was tapped, and the hosts probed down the left through Hendy before Fraser Dingwall and Fin Smith combined for Pater to ride a tackle and reach over and finish, with Smith adding the conversion.
Red Bulls hit back with both wingers involved, as Werner Kok rampaged down the left to go within metres of the line. Saints scrambled well initially, but James Elliott looped a pass into the waiting hands of Christian Wade, who strolled home untouched. Brett Connon levelled the scores with a conversion from out wide.
Newcastle then lost Harrison Obatoyinbo to the sin bin for a trip o Hendy, and they would concede 17 points before his return.
The flurry began when Dingwall smashed it up, Rory Hutchinson pulled it out the back and Coles showed delicate hands for Pater to complete his brace. Moments later, Saints struck again from a solid lineout base as Hutchinson took the ball to the line before releasing Hendy to canter home.
With Obatoyinbo preparing to return, his depleted teammates were back under the posts for a fourth time inside the opening 25 minutes. Archie McParland broke through centrefield before connecting with Josh Kemeny, and Saints swarmed – Henry Pollock, Hendy and Pater all involved – before Freeman strolled over, punctuating the score with a knowing wag of the index finger to the cheering supporters as he moved to 400 points in a Saints shirt.
Red Bulls enjoyed some strong spells in Saints territory but were met with fierce defensive resolve, including a superb breakdown steal from Cleopas Kundiona. They were not to be denied with their final attack of the half, though, as Obatoyinbo lobbed the ball to Wade for his second of the contest.
From the kick-off, Smith’s restart was retained following Freeman’s leap and Pollock’s grab, as Saints landed a crucial blow as Dingwall teased the defence before sending Coles gleefully under the posts. Smith’s conversion opened a 17‑point half‑time lead.
SECOND HALF:
Saints found themselves up against 14 men once more soon after the restart, as Pouri Rakete-Stones was shown yellow for a head-on-head collision with Callum Chick. This time, the scoreboard reward was not immediate: Hutchinson’s pass, which skimmed the DPD Stadium turf before reaching Hendy to score, was deemed forward, and Hendy was then denied again as he was rolled onto his back.
Newcastle’s defensive resolve was eventually broken as slick hands from the Northampton backs worked the ball wide for Freeman to breeze over.
Approaching the hour mark, Phil Dowson sent on an entirely new front row along with Tom Lockett and Alex Mitchell, but Saints were soon under their own posts as Hoskins Sotutu carried hard and Cam Jordan scrambled over.
Once again, Newcastle could muster no momentum from their score, as Saints rediscovered their cutting edge after some initial second‑half profligacy. Alex Mitchell and Chick took the ball down the blindside, Pollock toed a ball forward for Kemeny to skilfully scoop up and offload to Freeman, who completed his hat‑trick.
The match was now over as a contest. Newcastle attempted to put width on the ball but came undone when a spill was scooped up by Sleightholme – just seconds after arriving onto the field – who pinned his ears back and ran it in before a joyous Barwell Stand.
There were two more late scores, as yet more selfless play from Pollock saw him commit tacklers and pop to Hutchinson to send Pater over for his third of the evening.
Newcastle secured a point from the fixture in the last play of the game when Kok edged his way over for his side’s fourth of the evening, but Saints would not be denied their biggest-ever opening round victory of the PREM era.
LINE-UPS:
SAINTS: 15 James Pater, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Fraser Dingwall (c), 11 George Hendy, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Archie McParland; 1 Emmanuel Iyogun, 2 Curtis Langdon, 3 Cleopas Kundiona, 4 Alex Coles, 5 Ed Prowse, 6 Josh Kemeny, 7 Henry Pollock, 8 Callum Chick.
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 Tom Lockett, 20 Josh Taylor, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Ollie Sleightholme.
RED BULLS: 15 Harrison Obatoyinbo, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Chris Harris, 11 Werner Kok, 10 Brett Connon, 9 James Elliott; 1 Pouri Rakete-Stones, 2 George McGuigan, 3 Elliot Millar Mills, 4 Oscar Usher, 5 Cam Jordan, 6 Max Hicks, 7 Tom Christie (captain), 8 Sam Graham.
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Tom West, 18 James Harper, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 21 Simón Benítez Cruz, 22 Zack Henry, 23 Hoskins Sotutu.