Newcastle Falcons ……. 34pts
Tries: Blamire 5, Doherty 42, Hearle 60, Stevenson 67, Pepper 75 Conversions: Connon 6, 61, 76
Penalty: Connon 12
Northampton Saints ….. 35pts
Tries: Wright 9, Green 31, Smith 37, Glister 39, James 56 Conversions: Hutchinson 10; Smith 32, 38, 40, 57
Super-sub Fin Smith put in a sparkling showing to highlight why he’s England‘s preferred fly-half as Northampton secured their first away win in 15 months.
The 22-year-old pulled Saints strings superbly and didn’t miss a kick despite the swirling Kingston Park wind as the East Midlanders followed up their back-to-back Champions Cup wins, albeit by the narrowest of margins.
While the five-try win keeps Northampton’s title hopes alive, they left a lot to be desired having been shaded by the league’s basement side for most of the second half as Falcons scored 24 points to seven after the interval in order to take the game to the wire.
Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson said: “It was a very unusual game. We had so much disruption this week with injuries and other bits and pieces that I can only credit the coaches and players for adapting.
“Rory Hutchinson only got told he was playing at full-back at midday, so training week was tough but the characteristics and traits we went after, in terms of showing real grittiness in our mindset came through in the end, particularly in our last defensive set.
“Fin showed his class when he came on. He trains with such an impressively high intensity, in his gameplay and his kicking, and that really shone through.”
Match Action
Saints made 14 starting changes from the win over Castres, while Newcastle were smarting from their defeat to Exeter three weeks ago with director of rugby Steve Diamond having to watch from the hospitality boxes after being given a six-match touchline ban.
Fast-starting Falcons got first blood with an early blow on the champions. The Falcons were brutal in the early contact exchanges then tight-head Murray McCallum slipped through Saints defence and offloaded to hooker Jamie Blamire on the left, who dashed over left of the posts.
Brett Connon converted but within three minutes Northampton were level. Saints carved into Falcons’ 22 and a try saving tackle by wing Ben Stevenson on scrum-half Tom James made little difference as two phases later hooker Craig Wright found a gap on the left to score, converted by fullback Rory Hutchinson.
A high tackle saw Connon reassert Falcons’ lead with a 35 metre penalty. Newcastle put together a good series of phase play but Callum Chick’s try effort was chalked off for a double movement.
It was all Falcons, and a great running break initiated by the wingers led to full-back Elliot Obatoyinbo being knocked-out as he went low in the right corner in the 22nd minute.
Saints – lucky to not lose Tom Seabrook to the bin for the no arms tackle – gained momentum as Newcastle reshuffled their backline but saw another Wright try ruled out.
The Midlanders hit a pivotal three-try purple patch in the final nine minutes of the first-half.
A lineout 10 metres from the line led to several pick-and-goes with tighthead Luke Green muscling over for the try, then a Hutchinson break saw Smith slide over and convert his own try before Will Glister scored on a debut with a solo kick-chase effort.
Falcons centre Connor Doherty scored in the corner after the interval before James sprinted between the sticks for Saints fifth try.
Second Half
A quick switch saw Alex Hearle charge over on the hour-mark before an Ollie Fletcher floating pass set up Stevenson for Falcons’ bonus-point try.
In the final minutes Max Pepper latched on to a loose ball and chased down 70 metres to score but Saints withstood further pressure to claim victory.
Star man James said: “We’re very pleased overall, there were some mistakes but when we put everything together, like at the end of the first half and played with a lot of tempo, Newcastle struggled to live with us.
“They had the wind advantage in the second half, used it and their set-piece to put us under pressure but the pleasing thing is we stayed cool, earnt a few scrum penalties late on and closed out the game.”
International Rugby
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