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Northampton get ideal pre-Leinster runout by tuning up Bristol
By PA
Northampton produced a blistering display as they warmed up for their Investec Champions Cup semi-final with a 48-31 demolition of Bristol.
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The Saints were at their sumptuous best as they scored seven tries to put a spanner in the works for Bristol and their Gallagher Premiership play-off bid.
The Bears had won the past five meetings between the teams, but Northampton were totally dominant as they ensured they would head to Dublin to face Leinster next Saturday on a real high.
As for Bristol, they have now suffered three successive league defeats, leaving their top-four hopes in the balance.
The Bears had gone ahead at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens as they used penalty advantage from a scrum to send wing Deago Bailey over on the right.
Bristol thought they had scored again soon after as Kalaveti Ravouvou raced home on the left, but his effort was ruled out for a forward pass in the build-up.
The Saints were then sparked into life by England scrum-half Alex Mitchell as he delivered a stunning solo try, dummying and side-stepping through.
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The England men continued to star as Fin Smith and Henry Pollock combined for Northampton before Curtis Langdon picked up a ball which bounced off the post to score.
The hosts were in the ascendancy and they scored again when James Ramm sent Tommy Freeman over.
Ramm then made a heroic last-ditch tap tackle on Ravouvou before the Saints bagged their bonus-point try, with Freeman picking up a Mitchell pass to power over.
Bristol kept going and after Harry Randall broke from halfway, Gabriel Ibitoye did well to stay on his feet before diving over for a timely try.
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Northampton added to their lead with the final kick of the half as Smith slotted a penalty to make it 27-12.
The Saints kept marching on at the start of the second period as Freeman wrapped up Rich Lane inside the Bristol 22, allowing Manny Iyogun to score.
Juarno Augustus was next to score as he powered through Ravouvou to dive over on the left.
Bristol scored their third try eight minutes from time as James Williams dotted down, but the Saints were straight back at them, with Tom James setting up Henry Pollock, who celebrated with an ‘Ash splash’, made famous by former Saint Chris Ashton.
Saints lost Fraser Dingwall to a head injury assessment, sparking fears about his availability for the trip to Dublin.
And with Northampton down to 14 men with Dingwall off the field, Bristol took advantage as Ibitoye’s flying finish secured a try bonus point.
Kieran Marmion also scored late on, but the Saints were the ones celebrating a big win at the end of a hugely impressive display.
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Scarlets gave them a hand up too.
Poorest team picked all year in terms of being disjointed. I did think Scarlets had a decent chance when I saw the Leinster team. Williams was excellent at 9 leveraging the lead. I don’t like singling out the ref but two mauls brought down inside the 5 metre line surely required a yellow. Persistant penalties near the Scarlets line illicited two warnings in a row and no yellows. And a couple of very very late hits on Byrne got ‘do that again and you’re booked’. I heard that was demoted after the Sharks Munster match earlier in the season. He is not the required standard. URC should use Holly D as the main Scottish ref.
All that said Leinster still had it in them to win. The disjointed team and unforced errors was the last nail. Byrne’s intercept pass was typical of Leinster supplying the mistakes that Scarlets needed.
I hope the errors don’t spread to the Knockouts team.
Tommy Freeman is starting to look a lot like Baba Yaga.