A sold-out cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens crowd were treated to dose of East Midlands Derby delight as Northampton Saints ran in six tries to defeat Leicester Tigers in the PREM Rugby Cup.
Saints’ second most-experienced starting back, 20-year-old Archie McParland, scored twice in the first half and was followed over the line by James Martin and Amena Caqusau, with Leicester’s only scoring contribution coming from George Pearson.
Henry Walker and James Pater stretched the hosts’ advantage in the second period to an unassailable one as Saints kept their hopes of silverware on three fronts alive – despite Tigers adding three more tries before the final whistle sounded to take home a bonus point as a consolation.
FIRST HALF
Both teams conceded scrum penalties in the opening ten minutes before the game’s first scoring opportunity came Leicester’s way as a crossfield kick presented a two-on-one chance on the left wing which was superbly prevented by James Martin’s superman dive to tap the ball backwards.
Shortly after that reprieve, Saints showed their ruthless edge as scrum-half McParland struck twice in the space of five blistering minutes.
With their first attacking foray, Sam Graham and Charlie Ulcoq showed slick hands to free Martin who who cooly put his scrum-half in under the posts. Pater added the routine conversion.
A scrum penalty earned on Leicester’s five-metre line was the perfect platform for a second. Oliver Scola tapped and bludgeoned his way forward, his colleagues in the pack punched holes around the corner before McParland breezed through as Tigers ran out of numbers.
The hosts were attacking from all quarters, but it was their undoing as Tigers responded, pouncing on a loose ball through James O’Connor’s side-stepping run for Pearson to cross near to the right corner flag.
Saints’ fly-half for the contest, James Pater, was just a one-year-old when O’Connor made his Wallabies debut, but showed no fear in his approach as his daring foray with ball in hand placed defenders on the back foot for Martin to produce a perfect chip in behind to regather and land Saints’ third try in a blistering opening quarter-of-an-hour period.
The bonus point was secured ten minutes before half-time as more strong work from the forwards caught Tigers offside twice. Another tapped penalty kept possession with Saints’ heavy weapons, before Pater picked the right option to feed James Ramm – who arrived onto the field early in place of head injury victim Ollie Sleightholme – who gave Caqusau plenty to do, but the winger answered the challenge with a rolling finish by the left corner flag. Pater knocked over his second touchline conversion, and fourth of an increasingly impressive afternoon for the 18-year-old.
Both sides had golden chances to score before the break as Tom Manz’s effort was disallowed for a lineout offence, then Martin’s dive for the line following Caqusau’s scintillating break was sadly not completed with the ball in hand as Tigers scrambled well.
SECOND HALF
There was no let up early into the second period as Northampton struck twice more within seven minutes of the restart. With the rain pouring down, Saints kicked a scrum penalty to the corner and hooker Walker peeled off to finish.
Then it was the turn of the backs to fire as Toby Thame crashed his way up the middle, paving the way for Pater and Ramm to link up beautifully for the latter to cross under the posts, convert his own try taking his contribution to 15 points and stretch Northampton’s lead to 35 points.
Tigers, who entered the match unbeaten and top of Pool B, did manage two more tries in the final quarter when Sam Williams and Charlie Clare rumbled over to raise hopes of a try-scoring bonus point for some consolation.
And after a knock-on in midfield just before the clock went red, Leicester did rumble over out wide for a fourth – with Wilf McCarthy adding the finishing touch. But it was all smiles for Saints at the full-time whistle as they celebrated an impressive 40-22 victory.
LINE-UPS:
SAINTS: 15 Martin, 14 Sleightholme, 13 Pasco, 12 Thame, 11 Caqusau, 10 Pater, 9 McParland; 1 Scola, 2 Walker, 3 Kundiona, 4 Prowse, 5 Lockett, 6 Benson, 7 Ulcer, 8 Graham (c).
Replacements: 16 Manfredi, 17 Green, 18 Tonga’uiha, 19 Munga, 20 Kelleher*, 21 James, 22 St John, 23 Ramm.
SAINTS: 15 Bailey, 14 Pearson, 13 Perese, 12 Woodward, 11 Crowley, 10 O’Connor, 9 Allan; 1 Van Der Flier, 2 Theobald-Thomas, 3 Hurd, 4 Wells, 5 Manz, 6 Palmer, 7 Williams, 8 Liebenberg (c).
Replacements: 16 Clare, 17 Haffar, 18 Loman, 19 Manz, 20 Marsh, 21 Bemand, 22 McCarthy, 23 Izu.