Match Report: Northampton Saints 45 – 31 Bristol Bears

Northampton Saints ran in six tries in a resounding 45-31 Gallagher Premiership triumph over Bristol Bears, to the delight of a packed-out cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens.

The atmosphere was electric as the men in Black, Green and Gold bounced back from an early setback, scoring four times before the interval through Alex Mitchell (twice), Ollie Sleightholme and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto to go in 31-7 ahead.

Saints picked up where they left off after the break as Matty Proctor quickly extended the lead and Fin Smith (on debut at fly-half for Northampton) took his personal points tally to 13 from the tee, but Bristol did not go down without a fight.

The Bears added a few late scores but replacement No.10 James Grayson made the result secure with a try and conversion ten minutes from full-time.

FIRST HALF

The hosts were under the cosh early on as they conceded back-to-back penalties to hand the Bears a five-metre lineout, and Bristol pushed over the maul with Harry Thacker at the back to score.

Sheedy’s conversion was good, but from there it was all Saints for the remainder of the half, as first some stern defence from Northampton produced a knock-on from the Bears close to the line, and the hosts were able to clear.

On 14 minutes, Saints were level as a forward pass from Bristol handed them a scrum. One phase later, Mitchell burst through a gap and seared past the last defender to score – Smith’s conversion from left of the posts sailed through for his first points in Black, Green and Gold.

Five minutes later the young fly-half started off Northampton’s second try with a neat popped pass to Paul Hill to create some go forward ball. Rory Hutchinson carried into space before finding Mitchell inside him who did brilliantly to hold off two defenders and scramble over the whitewash.

Smith was on target with the extras and added three more points after 26 minutes after Joe Joyce played No.9 Mitchell at the back of a ruck to concede a penalty.

That opened up a ten-point gap but just after the half-hour mark, Saints were out of sight having scored twice in quick succession.

First, Fraser Dingwall’s perfectly-timed pass put George Hendy though a gap, and the fullback in turn drew in the last defender before giving Sleightholme a walk-in outside him.

Then, straight from the kick-off, Northampton picked off Bristol again as Hutchinson made a break, Mike Haywood and then Mitchell got their hands on the ball, before finally finding Salakaia-Loto to score his first Saints try.

Unfortunately for the hosts, Juarno Augustus limped off in the aftermath of the score, and they could not add to their tally before the break – although they came close as Smith raced through a gap and looked to find Sam Graham (now playing No.8) inside him, but he could not hold on with the line at his mercy and the scoreline read 31-7 as the sides headed into the sheds.

SECOND HALF

Three minutes into the second half, the one-way traffic continued as first Aaron Hinkley made ground, before a sumptuous long pass from Smith found Proctor to score in the right corner.

Smith converted the score to take his personal tally to 13, but the fly-half was picked off by Callum Sheedy on 54 minutes – and while Smith came close to chasing his opposite number down, the Bears’ No.10 held him at bay to score.

Bristol were over again just after the hour mark as Magnus Bradbury just managed to avoid the touchline and touch down in the corner, with the try confirmed by the TMO, but Sheedy could not convert this time to leave the score at 38-19.

Sleightholme got over the ball under his own posts to win a crucial penalty on 64 minutes, with Bears knocking on the door again, but Bristol continued their fightback shortly after as Thacker broke off the side of a lineout drive and rumbled over for his second of the afternoon.

Replacement fly-half AJ MacGinty added the extras to cut Saints’ lead to 12 points, but Northampton slammed the door shut with nine minutes remaining; the visitors gave away a penalty for obstruction, and from the resulting lineout drive, Tom James whipped the ball out for Hinkley to produce a sublime offload to Grayson to dive over.

There was still time however for Graham to see yellow for Saints with the clock almost in the red for persistent infringements inside the 22, and while MacGinty then added another late try for Bristol, it could not take the gloss off an excellent afternoon’s work for Northampton.

Next up for the men in Black, Green and Gold is another home Gallagher Premiership encounter on Friday evening, with Exeter Chiefs coming to town.