Match Report: Northampton Saints 17 – 25 Gloucester Rugby

Northampton Saints were defeated 17-25 by Gloucester Rugby in Round 7 of the Gallagher Premiership. 

Sixth-place Gloucester pulled ahead to a 22-7 lead before the break, with two Santi Carreras tries sandwiching a Zach Mercer effort for the Cherry and Whites – while Saints could only send captain George Furbank over in response. 

And while Northampton found their rhythm in the second-half and sent Juarno Augustus over the tryline, their only other points of the match came from Rory Hutchinson’s boot and meant Saints took no league points away from the encounter.

FIRST HALF:

Gloucester drew first blood in Round 7, applying pressure to Saints’ defensive lines before whipping the ball wide, with swift handling from the Cherry and Whites finding Carreras to score.

The fullback’s touchline conversion went wide and Saints hit straight back to put themselves in front. Free-flowing attack put Saints on the front foot, with Tom James neatly putting Angus Scott-Young into space, and it was a brilliant piece of skill from captain Furbank – who collected his own perfectly-weighted grubber – that saw the fullback score just right of the posts.

Rory Hutchinson took over kicking duties in the absence of Fin Smith – who Northampton lost early on to injury – and duly converted the score.

Two monumental defensive efforts from George Hendy kept a rampaging Gloucester at bay, first securing a turnover as the Cherry and Whites pushed from close range before halting a certain try as Josh Hathaway intercepted a loose Saints pass. 

But Gloucester did make an intercept stick just after. Freddie Thomas claimed a looping Saints pass inside Gloucester’s half and raced forwards into Saints’ territory, before offloading to Zach Mercer for the score.

Carreras added the extras and would have a second score of his own on the half-hour mark, as Gloucester picked off another Saints pass. This time the ball went through Cherry and White hands quickly, until the fullback slipped through Saints’ defence and over the tryline. 

Gloucester thought they’d scored a fourth two minutes from half-time when Carreras dived over out wide. A knock-on in the build-up chalked that one out, but the fullback did add three points from the tee before the break as Saints were penalised for holding on. 

SECOND HALF:

Saints emerged from the interval 7-22 adrift but pulled back the deficit to eight points quickly. Pressure on Gloucester’s tryline from the forwards eventually paid off and it was No.8 Augustus who crashed over the whitewash. 

Hutchinson added the conversion and Saints thought they were in again when Sleightholme dived over in the left corner. But a trip to the TMO deemed the winger to have knocked the ball on over the tryline, and the scoreline remained 14-22 in Gloucester’s favour.

Gloucester went down to 14 men on 58 mins as Seb Blake illegally slowed Saints’ progress into Gloucester’s 22. The men in Black, Green and Gold thought they’d made the most of their man advantage when Alex Mitchell jinked his way through Gloucester’s lines and found Tom Litchfield outside him, but a trip to the TMO chalked that effort off too for a forward pass.

Saints did claw back three points with seven minutes left to play, as Hutchinson sent a penalty over from the tee when Gloucester were found offside in their own 22.

Having already used all their substitutes, an injury to No.8 Mercer left Gloucester a man down. But it was a penalty against Saints at the lineout that gave Carreras the chance to stretch Gloucester’s lead back to 17-25. 

And though Gloucester were found offside in their own 22 and penalised there, Hutchinson could not convert the opportunity into points from the tee, meaning they emerged from the encounter empty-handed in terms of Gallagher Premiership points.

Saints head into the Investec Champions Cup next week, as Castres Olympique come to cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday (7 December, kick-off: 3.15pm).

LINE-UPS:

Saints: Furbank (c), Hendy, Litchfield, Hutchinson, Sleightholme, F Smith, James; West C Langdon, Davison, Munga, Coles, Scott-Young, Pearson, Augustus.
Replacements: Wright, Iyogun, Green, Lockett, Pollock, Mitchell, Dingwall, Ramm.

Gloucester: Carreras, Wade, Llewellyn, Atkinson, Thorley, Anscombe, Englefield; Rapava-Ruskin, Singleton, Fasogbon, Clark, Thomas, Clement, Ludlow (c), Mercer.
Replacements: Blake, Knight, Gotovtsev, Alemanno, Ackermann, Chapman, Harris, Hathaway.