Match Report: Northampton Saints 47 – 17 Sale Sharks

Northampton Saints exorcised their demons of agonising near misses against Leicester Tigers to put Sale Sharks to the sword on Friday evening. 

The ruthless edge that was lacking in the East Midlands Derby returned in abundance in a first half at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens that saw Tommy Freeman, George Furbank, George Hendy and Tom James all grab tries with Ollie Sleightholme helping himself to a brace. Sale’s points came through Luke Cowan-Dickie’s five-pointer and a couple of Rob du Preez kicks.

Joe Carpenter and James Ramm exchanged tries in the second period as the ran fell from the skies and Saints cruised home to their twelfth successive Gallagher Premiership home victory and sixteenth in all competitions. 

FIRST HALF

A frenetic opening period saw Sale retain their own kick-off and control possession, with Saints infringing and du Preez opening the scoring with a second-minute penalty. 

Whatever the visitors could do, the men in Black, Green and Gold could do better as the kick chase was good and Rory Hutchinson pounced for a now-trademark breakdown turnover. The forwards knocked on the door pushing the defence onto the backfoot, freeing up Fin Smith to put a deft grubber into the ingoal area for Freeman to slide in for his 45th try for the club. 

Smith’s conversion struck a post and bounced to safety, as his teammate Robbie Smith was stretchered from the field of play following a collision in the build-up.

A second try soon followed and Freeman was at the heart of it once more as he received a sublime delayed pass from Hutchinson to bump and roll his way into the 22, offloading to the onrushing Furbank to open his account for the 2024/25 season. Smith added the extra points.

The seesaw nature of the opening exchanges continued as Cowan-Dickie drove a rolling maul over that saw the gap close to two points with du Preez’s precise conversion.

Sharks lost Alex Wills to the sinbin following an aerial collision with Hendy and to say Saints cashed in was an understatement.

With their next attacking opportunity, Smith kicked a central penalty to touch. A looping throw from replacement hooker Curtis Langdon set the tone, Angus Scott-Young clatteredinto contact and offered the pivot on the occasion of his 50th Saints appearance as the backs went from coast to coast with Ramm producing a precision pass for Sleightholme to roar gloriously into the left corner. 

The bonus point was wrapped up when Ramm – on temporarily for the bloodied Furbank – saw space in the backfield following a turnover to chip in behind, regather and feed scrum-half James to complete the counter attack.

Saints’ foot remained firmly on the throttle as Smith looked up to locate Sleightholme for his second with a chip ahead that bounced somewhat fortuitously into the winger’s hands to scamper over before the Barwell Stand.

Even Sale’s turnovers were working against them as an attempted forray following a breakdown poach saw Hendy pull in a pass from the crisp autumnal air and canter home under the posts. Smith added a fifth successful conversion, to create a 30-point buffer at the break.

SECOND HALF

Northamptonshire singer/songwriter Billy Lockett performed his hit ‘Hard Act To Follow’ during the interval, and they proved to be prophetic words for the second half that followed a simply breathtaking opening 40 minutes.

Sharks struck first with Carpenter going over from close range, with du Preez cutting Saints’ lead to 23 points.

Any momentum that score could’ve built was erased through two moments of brilliance as Henry Pollock held up Gus Warr over the line, then Hutchinson landed a sumptuous 50:22 .

As the game approached the hour mark, Ramm picked up where he left off in his brief involvement before the break, receiving a popped pass from Furbank on halfway and burst through an aching gap in the tiring opposition defence to land Saints’ seventh try of the contest.

The final quarter was in stark contrast to the rest of the match as Phil Dowson’s men consolidated what they had built to ensure the winning home run in all competitions would stretch beyond a year.

LINE UPS

SAINTS: Furbank (c); Hendy, Freeman, Hutchinson, Sleightholme; F Smith, James; Iyogun, R Smith, Davison; Thornbury, Munga; Scott-Young, Pearson, Pollock.
Replacements: C Langdon, Haffar, Millar Mills, Hunter-Hill, Kemeny, McParland, Litchfield, Ramm.

SHARKS: Carpenter; Roebuck, Nayacalevu, Bedlow, O'Flaherty; R du Preez, Warr; McIntyre, Cowan-Dickie, Opoku-Fordjour; van Rhyn, Andrews; T Curry, B Curry (c), D du Preez.
Replacements: Caine, Onasanya, Harper, Bamber, Dugdale, Thomas, Curtis, James.