Archie McParland bagged himself the Player of the Match award for his 53-minute involvement in a barmy night at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, that saw Northampton Saints pull off a record-breaking 94-33 victory over Bristol Bears.
The scrum-half scored two of Saints’ 14 tries, which would equal the highest number they had ever managed in a league match. And that was far from being the only record that fell in Round 16 of the Gallagher PREM, with McParland’s first effort providing five of Northampton’s 61 first-half points.
That was the most scored before half-time by any side in the PREM to date, with the breathless 40 minutes of rugby seeing George Hendy, Rory Hutchinson, Callum Chick, Alex Coles, George Furbank and Josh Kemeny all go over alongside the scrum-half.
“That first half was absolutely exhausting,” McParland explained. “It’s just so exciting to play in this team. When we get front-foot ball and everything’s alive, when we’re just playing what we see, it’s great.
“It was a special performance from us. We were very disappointed last weekend, and it was great to be able to show the fans and ourselves what we’re really about.
The men in Black, Green and Gold started the second half in the same kind of earnest as the first, sending Henry Pollock over just two minutes in. McParland went over again not long after and Hendy wrapped up his quartet of scores either side of Sam Graham’s rampaging effort to see Saints register that record-breaking 94 points.
The performance proved some response to last weekend’s disappointing loss at Leicester Tigers and sealed Saints their place in the league’s play-offs with two matches to spare.
“We definitely had something to fight for this week,” McParland continued.
“We had a performance coming up, it was brewing. We’ve not been able to perform to our standards in the past few weeks. I’m not sure I expected 94 points to be the result of the performance coming together, but you can’t complain with that.
“To be able to put that performance out there and show what we’re about was great. And to do it against Bristol, who we had a tough result against earlier this year, was brilliant. I’m really happy for everyone, for the fans, and for ourselves as well.”
As well as a special night for the team, it was also an outstanding evening for the 21-year-old as he moved within three appearances of a half-century for Saints – earning himself the plaudits of TNT Sports’ commentators Brian O’Driscoll, Danny Care and David Flatman and, therefore, their pick for the Player of the Match award.
“It’s great being a part of this team,” McParland added. “I always know that 14 other people have got my back, and it’s given me the confidence through training and in games. I’m really enjoying my rugby.”