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Leicester's Prem freefall continues as Saints win first away game

By PA
Press Association

Ollie Sleightholme’s superbly-taken try earned Northampton victory in the East Midlands derby as they edged out Leicester 19-18 at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

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The success will go down as Northampton’s first away from home in the Gallagher Premiership this season, their only previous win on the road having been scrubbed from the record books after Wasps went into administration.

They twice battled back from behind after Harry Potter’s two tries for the Tigers to record just their second win in eight games in all competitions and go third in the table.

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The visitors’ afternoon did not start well, though, as they had full-back James Ramm sent to the sin bin for a high tackle on Potter close to his own try line after only three minutes.

It was relentless pressure from the Tigers in the opening stages and it was no surprise when their opening try came in the eighth minute as Potter slipped through Rory Hutchinson’s attempted tackle to score down the left.

Handre Pollard added the conversion, but Saints got off the mark just before Ramm returned to the field through George Furbank’s penalty.

Pollard then extended the hosts’ lead to 10-3 with a penalty of his own after Alex Coles was pinged for holding on under pressure from Julian Montoya.

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Northampton then produced their first sustained spell of pressure in the match and a pair of Leicester infringements in their own 22 allowed Furbank’s boot to narrow the gap to just one point.

And so it remained until half-time, although it took a vital tackle from Saints number eight Juarno Augustus to prevent Montoya crashing over after the Argentine hooker broke off a driving maul.

Three minutes after the restart, the visitors were in front for the first time as Furbank kicked his fourth penalty after Tigers were penalised at the breakdown.

Leicester soon retook the lead when Potter was able to step away from Tom James to score his second try, which Freddie Burns, in the absence of the now-injured Pollard, could not convert.

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The match was now coming to the boil and Northampton quickly hit back themselves. Ramm did well to off-load to Sleightholme, who left Anthony Watson trailing in his wake to score, Furbank adding the extras.

Burns, playing his last match for Leicester before moving to Super Rugby franchise the Crusaders, then kicked a penalty to reduce Saints’ lead to 19-18 after 63 minutes.

Furbank then had another chance to kick for goal, although was bizarrely forced to take it while Burns was being given a standing ovation after being replaced, and he missed.

Fortunately for Saints it did not cost them as their defence held out in the face of late pressure from the hosts to record a vital result.

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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TRENDING Marcus Smith on that substitution and his England plea Marcus Smith on that substitution and his England plea
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