Match Report: Northampton Saints 48 – 31 Bristol Bears

Northampton Saints notched up seven tries in an enthralling victory over Bristol Bears – their fourth straight win in all competitions.

The hosts had the try bonus point secure before half-time, with Tommy Freeman crossing twice to add to scores from Alex Mitchell and Curtis Langdon – although Deago Bailey and Gabriel Ibitoye kept the Bears in the hunt.

Saints however were out of sight before the hour mark, with Emmanuel Iyogun, Juarno Augustus and Henry Pollock all making sure of the result before late tries for James Williams and Ibitoye put some gloss on the scoreline for Bristol.

FIRST HALF

An early error from Saints inside the 22 gave Bristol an attacking platform, and playing with the advantage from the scrum, the Bears shifted the ball wide quickly for Bailey to run into the corner.

The visitors thought they had another shortly after, when Kalaveti Ravouvou was released down the left-hand wing, but the TMO chalked off the score for a clear forward pass from Rich Lane in the build-up.

And Saints sparked into life from there, winning a breakdown penalty to earn field position, before Mitchell dummied and jinked his way past multiple defenders to score from halfway.

Fin Smith’s conversion from in front of the posts put the hosts 7-5 ahead, and the lung-busting start continued as Saints scored again in the 18th minute.

Smith started the move off with a brilliant grubber through the middle for Pollock to gather, and the pair exchanged a couple of spectacular offloads before the ball was batted backwards by a Bristol defender – with Langdon running a support line to dot the loose ball down next to the posts.

The pressure was mounting now from Northampton and the men in Black, Green and Gold finished clinically again five minutes later after some patient build-up play involving Rory Hutchinson, Smith and James Ramm – allowing the latter to send Freeman speeding over in the right corner.

The hosts thought they had scored again after a loose kick from Bristol, and slick hands from Smith saw him offload to Ramm under the posts, but the TMO was back to rule out the try with an offload from Mitchell adjudged to be forward out the hands in the build-up.

Ramm was back in the action moments later to make an outstanding try-saving tackle on Ravouvou, who looked certain to score after Bristol broke from a scrum deep in their own half.

Saints then secured their bonus-point try after 35 minutes, capitalising on a knock-on from the Bears inside their own 22 before more clinical build-up play created the space for Freeman to wriggle through a tackle and score his second.

Smith’s conversion from the right touchline hit the post, and Bristol then grabbed a try out of nothing as Ibitoye’s kick was charged down, but the ball broke back for the Bears and it was Ibitoye who finished off the move after Harry Randall broke into space.

SECOND HALF

Northampton picked up where they left off at the start of the second half, with Bristol now chasing the game and playing a lot of rugby inside their own 22. Freeman pounced on Williams to force a turnover, and Iyogun was there to snaffle up the loose ball and finish off Saints’ fifth try.

Saints unloaded the bench early, but the replacements continued to pile on the pressure. After Luke Green won a brilliant scrum penalty, hooker Henry Walker sent a sumptuous pass across for Augustus who powered through Ravouvou’s attempted tackle to score.

Another replacement, Tom Seabrook, got back to make a superb covering tackle on Ibitoye, and from there Saints unleased a counter-attack through Will Glister – however after a series of offloads, Pollock could not quite make the final pass back to Glister stick to complete the score.

Bears grabbed a consolation through Williams after Ravouvou made ground down the right, and Steven Luatua quickly whipped the ball away from a ruck to put the centre clear – but Northampton answered right back two minutes later as Tom James broke a tackle and found Pollock on his shoulder, who finished under the posts with aplomb.

A scrappy final few minutes saw Ibitoye and Williams both cross again as the Bears wrapped up a try bonus point of their own in defeat, but there was no dampening the mood around cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens as Saints warmed up for next weekend’s Investec Champions Cup semi-final showdown in Dublin in some style.

LINE-UPS

SAINTS: 15 Ramm, 14 Freeman, 13 Dingwall (c), 12 Hutchinson, 11 Litchfield, 10 Smith 9 Mitchell; 1 Iyogun, 2 Langdon, 3 Davison, 4 Mayanavanua, 5 Coles, 6 Kemeny, 7 Pollock, 8 Augustus.
Replacements: 16 Walker, 17 West, 18 Millar Mills, 19 Lockett, 20 Scott-Young, 21 James, 22 Seabrook, 23 Glister.

BRISTOL: 15 ⁠Lane, 14 Bailey, 13 Ravouvou, 12 Janse van Rensburg, 11 Ibitoye, 10 MacGinty, 9 Randall; 1 Genge, 2 Thacker, 3 Lahiff, 4 Caulfield, 5 Owen, 6 Luatua, 7 Grondona, 8 Harding (c).
Replacements: 16 Oghre, 17 Thomas, 18 Kloska, 19 Mata, 20 Grondona, 21 Marmion, 22 Williams, 23 Naulago.