Northampton Saints were defeated in the Gallagher PREM for the second time this season, as Leicester Tigers secured a 41-17 win over the men in Black, Green and Gold.
The sides exchanged early scores at Mattioli Woods Welford Road, with Tommy Freeman crossing for Saints’ effort. But the home side pulled away after that with one-way traffic seeing Tigers register 36 unanswered points before Saints found a response.
Northampton did end the match with a flourish – sending George Hendy over before Freeman claimed a second – but ultimately left Leicester without any league points.
FIRST HALF
The heavy-hitting East Midlands Derby started exactly the way you would expect, with tempers running high and handbags before the game’s second minute.
After those had been put away and both captains issued a warning from referee Matthew Carley, it was the home side the piled early pressure on their opposition. Tigers first got themselves close through a driving maul only to be held up from close range, but eventually their score did come when George Martin found space on the left.
Saints found themselves down to 14 after Tigers’ score too, with the mounting infringements against Northampton seeing Carley issue Callum Chick with a yellow card. It was a ten-minute period that Saints fought hard to survive, and did so with some resolute defence and strength at scrum time.
And once Northampton were back up to full complement, some textbook free-flowing rugby allowed them to pull themselves level. Rory Hutchinson and Fin Smith partnered to set Hendy free, with the winger making Saints’ considerable yards before getting the offload away to his skipper George Furbank. From there it was a two-on-one for Furbank and Saints’ other winger Freeman, with the former drawing in the last man to set the latter free to score.
Smith’s conversion, like James O’Connor’s, was denied by the left upright to keep the scores at 5-5, but they wouldn’t stay that way for long. The home side came straight back at Saints, and a looping O’Connor pass found Ollie Hassell-Collins on the left to put Tigers back ahead.
Leicester extended their lead after half an hour, when an attacking lineout gave their forwards the perfect platform to push from close range. Eventually it was Jamie Blamire who muscled his way over, with O’Connor’s conversion making it 19-5.
Saints had a pair of chances before the break, only to be thwarted by a stolen lineout and a Tigers turnover and see the scoreline remain in Tigers’ favour at half-time.
SECOND HALF
A Nicky Smith turnover penalty gave Tigers their first chance of points in the second half, a chance which fly-half O’Connor duly took from the tee. And the home side extended their lead just five minutes later, when Adam Radwan collected Jack van Poortvliet’s chip over the top.
Saints’ chances took another hit in the 49th minute when Josh Kemeny was sent to the sin bin as he was found in an illegal position at the breakdown. And Tigers made the most of their extra man quickly, sending Blamire over for a second with a driving maul.
A scuffle in the aftermath of the try resulted in both sides losing a man to the sin bin this time, with both Joe Heyes and Craig Wright earning themselves yellow cards for their part in it.
The game’s fourth yellow card was issued after 67 minutes, when Tigers’ replacement hooker Charlie Clare made illegal contact with Wright’s neck at the breakdown.
But the deficit didn’t halt Tigers’ progress and the home side were soon over for their 6th of the afternoon – Freddie Steward the man to dive over on the right, with an Orlando Bailey conversion making it 41-5.
Saints did eventually claw a score back, with Smith freeing his hands to set Henry Pollock loose. The replacement back rower charged forwards before finding a sprinting Hendy on his shoulder for the try.
Tigers went down to 14 for second time just after, this time for a 20-minute red card – with Izaia Perese leaving the field for a head-on-head clash with Furbank.
Northampton made the most of their extra man quickly, with Litchfield haring up the left before finding Freeman inside him for Saints’ third.
And Northampton got straight back on the attack, going in search of a losing try bonus-point; a penalty received when Fraser Dingwall was hit high gave Saints one final chance but Pollock’s quick-tap was turned over in the next phase and, with time against them, Northampton were forced to leave Leicester empty handed.
LINE-UPS
Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Will Wand, 12 Orlando Bailey, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 James O’Connor, 9 Jack van Poortvliet; 1 Nicky Smith, 2 Jamie Blamire, 3 Joe Heyes, 4 Ollie Chessum (c), 5 George Martin, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Tommy Reffell, 8 Joaquin Moro.
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Archie van der Flier, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Cameron Henderson, 20 Samuel Williams, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Solomone Kata, 23 Izaia Perese.
Saints: 15 George Furbank (c), 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 George Hendy, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell; 1 Emmanuel Iyogun, 2 Robbie Smith, 3 Luke Green, 4 Chunya Munga, 5 JJ Van Der Mescht, 6 Josh Kemeny, 7 Sam Graham, 8 Callum Chick.
Replacements: 16 Craig Wright, 17 Tom West, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Ed Prowse, 20 Emeka Atuanya, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Archie McParland, 23 Tom Litchfield.