Northampton Saints were defeated 34-22 by Leicester Tigers as the second block of PREM Rugby Cup matches drew to a close at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.
A brace of scores from JJ Van Der Mescht put Saints on the front foot early on, with a conversion and drop goal from George Furbank keeping Northampton within reach of Leicester’s three scores – heading into the break just four points adrift of their hosts.
The second half was slow to start for both sides, and it was eventually Leicester who capitalised on their chances – sending Will Wand and Ollie Allan over after an hour. Oliver Scola’s first try in Saints colours was to be the final act of the match, but Tigers had already done enough to secure a home victory.
FIRST-HALF:
Tigers were the first to draw blood under the Friday Night Lights, when a high ball from Tom Whiteley landed in Joaquin Moro’s hands for the Tigers’ No. 8 to run in and Searle added the extras to put Leicester 7-0 up after two minutes.
The rest of the first quarter passed without a score as the sides toed and froed, but it was Saints who struck next. George Furbank cut a deft line through Tigers’ defence and made it to the five-metre line before the forwards took over and it was eventually Van Der Mescht’s muscle that got them on the scoreboard.
The rampaging lock claimed his second just five minutes later, barging his way over the tryline with Tigers defenders hanging off him once again – while Furbank’s conversion gave Saints a five-point lead.
Saints looked in the ascendency but then the home side clawed one back, pouncing on an opportunity against the run of play. Tigers worked their way into Saints’ 22 and though the men in Black, Green and Gold held up Leicester's first attempt, Tom Whiteley’s snipe off the back of the resulting scrum proved fruitful.
Furbank slotted a clean drop goal when Saints’ attack on the half hour mark stalled, but Saints’ lead was, again, short-lived when Moro scrambled over from close range for his second after a period of pressure from the hosts.
Searle’s conversion sent the teams into the break with the score swung in Tigers favour, at 19-15.
SECOND HALF:
Compounding handling errors saw to it that neither side could take a hold of the game after the restart, with both sides stymied by their own knock-ons.
Eventually the stalemate was broken by a moment of brilliance from the home side, Searle broke through the middle and hacked forwards for Will Wand to chase. The Tigers centre still had work to do but controlled the ball with his feet before dotting down just left of the posts.
Searle’s conversion made it 26-15 and the fly-half would add three more from the tee just after an hour when Saints were penalised at the breakdown, before Tigers extended their lead further just ten minutes later as replacement scrum-half Allan sniped over.
But it was to be Saints who had the final word on the game; 18-year-old Henry Lumley broke through Tigers’ line and fed fellow replacement Amena Caqusau, with the winger sprinting up to the five-metre line before he was brought down. From there a pair of penalties against the home side allowed Saints to tap quickly and send young prop Scola over for his maiden try in Black, Green and Gold. Pater’s conversion ended the match and saw the final scoreline to 34-22.
Saints take a break from the PREM Rugby Cup to return to Gallagher PREM action to take on Bristol Bears on the road at Ashton Gate on Saturday 29 November (kick-off: 5.45pm).
LINE-UPS:
Leicester: 15 Orlando Bailey, 14 Ryan Crowley, 13 Will Wand, 12 Joseph Woodward, 11 Sam Mercer, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Tom Whiteley; 1 Tarek Haffar, 2 Charlie Clare (c), 3 Ale Loman, 4 Cameron Henderson, 5 James Thompson, 6 Harry Palmer, 7 Tommy Reffell, 8 Joaquin Moro.
Replacements: 16 Finn Theobald-Thomas, 17 Archie van der Flier, 18 Tonga Kofe, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Tom Manz, 21 Joshua Manz, 22 Ollie Allan, 23 Charlie Titcombe.
Saints: 15 George Hendy, 14 Ollie Sleightholme, 13 Tom Litchfield, 12 Toby Thame, 11 Amena Caqusau, 10 George Furbank (c), 9 Archie McParland; 1 Tom West, 2 Craig Wright, 3 Luke Green, 4 Chunya Munga, 5 JJ Van Der Mescht, 6 Josh Kemeny, 7 Fyn Brown, 8 Sam Graham.
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Oliver Scola, 18 Cleopas Kundiona, 19 Ed Prowse, 20 Callum Chick, 21 Jonny Weimann, 22 Henry Lumley, 23 James Pater.