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Northampton keep semi-final hopes alive with Newcastle thumping

By PA
Fin Smith with ball in hand for the Saints. Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

Northampton remain in the hunt for a Gallagher Premiership semi-final place after easing past bottom side Newcastle with a 66-5 comeback win at Kingston Park.

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Two tries from Tom Collins, along with efforts from Alex Mitchell and Juarno Augustus offset an early Adam Radwan try for the home side and gave Saints a commanding lead at the break.

Further scores in the second half from Paul Hill, Fin Smith, a second from Mitchell, Sam Graham, Tommy Freeman and David Ribbans condemned Newcastle to their heaviest defeat of the season.

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Saints must now wait and see if they will make the top four, with London Irish able to catch them due to having two games in hand.

Alex Tait, who announced midweek he would retire in the summer after 16 years at Kingston Park, was named on the bench for Falcons, who looked to bounce back from defeat at Harlequins last time out.

The visitors made two changes from their victory over league leaders Saracens, with Collins and Hill coming into a side hoping to give themselves the best chance of finishing in the top four.

Their semi-final hopes were dented after just four minutes when a neat passage of play released Radwan for the hosts, who darted past his man and dived over the corner flag.

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But the Saints responded in kind in the eighth minute as Mitchell sidestepped an attempted tackle to breeze through and leave Smith the simplest of conversions.

Collins produced a moment of quality in the 16th minute, intercepting a pass before hacking the ball forward and outpacing two Falcons players to score in the corner.

And he went over again on the half-hour mark for his 50th try in 145 appearances for the club following a TMO review.

Radwan was unfortunate soon after when a storming run down the right-hand side almost ended with a magnificent score, but a heroic challenge from Mitchell forced him into touch before going over.

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Augustus breached the hosts’ defence on the stroke of half-time to earn a priceless bonus point for the away side, with Smith kicking his fourth conversion of the opening 40.

It was more of the same after the break as Hill powered over for the Saints’ fifth try of the night before Newcastle’s Mateo Carreras was sent to the sin bin for a no-arm tackle three minutes later.

He was duly punished as the visitors scored four tries in 11 minutes with Smith, Mitchell, Graham and Freeman the beneficiaries.

And there was still time for Ribbans to bulldoze his way through to add an exclamation point to an emphatic Saints win, their third of the season over the Falcons.

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UP 1 hour ago
Nobody runs the show like Beauden - Why the All Blacks need Barrett now, and at Rugby World Cup 2027

Gregg-a! Great piece! I have followed you for as long as you have been writing. You are no doubt in my mind the best of the NZ sports rugby writers! I appreciate all the comments, I have read them all and have great respect for them. That’s the great thing about different perspectives, you don’t have to agree with them but you can respect them. I moved away from NZ over 23 years ago. Though I live in a different country, I will always and forever be a Kiwi and a staunch die hard supporter of the All Blacks. I wake up early to watch every game without fail.


This is the first time I am making a comment on this platform. I just want to express my appreciation for Beauden! I have been a Beauden fan from the beginning of his career. Whether he makes it to the end of his contract in 2027, all the many scenarios that have been painted in this article and all the many comments relating to Richie, D-Mac and Love, whatever happens, happens, but, I am taking the opportunity to appreciate this great talent, great athlete, great rugby player and great man. I am bias, I hope he makes it to the 2027 world cup but who knows. What I do know is Beauden Barrett has been an outstanding All Black, he has represented the jersey with the mana, respect and reverence that comes with the black jersey. He is humble and doesn’t seek glory for himself but for the team, so for however long he plays, I will be watching, appreciating him as one of the greats of All Blacks rugby and I’ll be watching every other game the All Blacks play with Beauden in the team or no longer. I Love the ALL BLACKS NO MATTER WHAT!!

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