Match Report: Gloucester Rugby 35 – 37 Northampton Saints

Anthony Belleau’s late penalty sealed a dramatic 37-35 Gallagher PREM victory for Northampton Saints away at Gloucester Rugby, as the men in Black, Green and Gold maintained an unbeaten record in the competition with their first league win away from home of the new term.

Saints flew out of the blocks at Kingsholm, sealing the bonus point before the interval through tries from Tom Pearson, Tom Litchfield, Archie McParland and George Hendy – though Gloucester hit back with a score of their own just before the break as they sent Cam Jordan over. 

A repeat of last weekend’s opposition comeback threatened in the second 40 minutes for Saints, as they went down to 13 men and Gloucester sent Will Joseph, James Venter and Afo Fasgobon over the tryline in response while Jordan also grabbed a second. 

But Northampton remained in the fight, and when a yellow card for Gloucester’s Ross Byrne earned Saints a penalty with less than ten minutes to play, fly-half Belleau slotted a sublime kick from the tee to hand Dowson’s side the victory.

FIRST-HALF:

It was Saints who struck first at Kingsholm, with 19-year-old Edoardo Todaro sending an out-the-back-door pass to Rory Hutchinson on the halfway line. The Scotland centre scythed through Gloucester’s line before Northampton’s forwards took over and eventually Pearson muscled his way over to open the scoring.

And the scoreline would soon sit at 14-0 in Saints’ favour after Hutchinson was again involved; first securing Northampton a turnover penalty and then producing a sublime deft pass to his fellow centre Litchfield off the back of the resulting lineout. That saw Litchfield through a gap in Gloucester’s line and the 23-year-old took off at gallop to cross for Saints’ second. 

An early loss of Elliot Millar Mills saw Cleopas Kundiona enter the game for his debut, and Saints stretched their lead further in the 25th minute when Belleau sent a penalty through the posts after Gloucester were found offside. 

Hutchinson was at the centre of Saints’ third score too, stepping around his opposite man and racing clear before freeing up his hands to put scrum-half McParland in space to finish. 

And Saints had wrapped the bonus point up before the break, as Hendy screamed through a gap in Gloucester’s line and muscled his way past their last man to score a fourth, while Belleau remained faultless from the tee to add his fourth conversion of the afternoon.

But it was the hosts that had the final word on the first-half, pressuring through a string of penalties in Saints’ 22 before lock Jordan stretched over the whitewash. 

SECOND HALF:

Saints entered the second 40 minutes with a 24-point lead but were forced to endure a fightback from the hosts that began when Gloucester’s Will Joseph sliced through Northampton’s defence just a minute into the second half. 

A scrum penalty allowed Belleau to settle Saints’ nerves with three points from the tee, but when Northampton went down to 13 men – when repeated offside infringements saw first Hendy and then Pearson shown yellow cards – the away side’s defence eventually gave way for Venter to score from close range. 

The game move to uncontested scrums as Saints lost debutant Kundiona to injury – with Northampton also forced to sacrifice Angus Scott-Young for the remainder of the match – and while Saints were still down a man, Gloucester sent Jordan over for his second. 

A huge try-saving tackle from Hutchinson stopped a sure try from Ben Loader in the 65th minute. However, just three minutes later, Gloucester took the lead for the first time in the game when a broken field allowed them to snake up the park and send a diving Afo Fasogbon over. 

But Saints stayed patient in attack and when Gloucester’s Ross Byrne was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock on, Belleau stepped up to the tee and landed a superb kick to swing the lead back Saints’ way and secure them the full five league points.  

The men in Black, Green and Gold return home to a sold-out cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens next weekend, for the visit of Leicester Tigers in Derby Weekend on Saturday (11 October, kick-off: 3.05pm). 

LINE-UPS:

GLOUCESTER: 15 Atkinson, 14 Loader, 13 Joseph, 12 Atkinson (vc), 11 Thorley, 10 Byrne, 9 Williams (c); 1 Knight, 2 Blake, 3 Fasogbon, 4 Thomas, 5 Jordan, 6 Basham, 7 Venter, 8 Mann.
Replacements: 16 Innard, 17 McArthur, 18 Gotovtsev, 19 Alemanno, 20 Bokenham, 21 Taylor, 22 Englefield, 23 Edwards-Giraud.

SAINTS: 15 Hendy, 14 Todaro, 13 Hutchinson, 12 Litchfield, 11 Martin, 10 Belleau, 9 McParland; 1 Iyogun, 2 Walker, 3 Millar Mills, 4 Coles, 5 Van Der Mescht, 6 Scott-Young, 7 Pearson, 8 Chick (c).
Replacements: 16 R Smith, 17 Fischetti, 18 Kundiona, 19 Lockett , 20 Brown, 21 Weimann, 22 Thame, 23 Pater.