Freddie Steward hat-trick as Leicester Tigers beat Northampton Saints 41-21 in East Midlands derby
Northampton were down to 12 men at one point of this East Midlands derby
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Freddie Steward scored a hat-trick in the 250th East Midlands derby as an ill-disciplined Northampton Saints performance led to the current Gallagher Premiership.
Three second-half yellow cards left Saints shorthanded in the closing stages, as Courtney Lawes also left the field having failed an on-field HIA.
Prodding and probing began the game, Leicester’s Freddie Burns got the scoring underway with a relatively simple penalty kick. Coming as a result of England captain Courtney Lawes not rolling away, it seemed at the time that Northampton were struggling to get their footing.
Not gaining the advantage at the scrum, Tigers would consistently have the ball returned to them, the man who call this corner of the world home unable to make their possession count for much at all.
That familiar brand of Saints rugby would soon be on display. George Furbank was the catalyst for much of the good that Northampton left out there on the turf, an offload toward Rory Hutchinson flapped into touch and the resulting phases of play eventually with Saints knocking on.
Dan Biggar would cross the line some minutes later, only for that score to be ruled out for an earlier forward pass. Northampton’s confidence was growing.
Their waiting was rewarded with a quick fire double. First came a glorious try for Alex Mitchell, the scrum-half the beneficiary of Furbank giving Harry Potter plenty to think about with Tommy Freeman outside of him, offloading the ball to Hutchinson, who found Mitchell to cross the whitewash.
Biggar would slot the conversion and was in demand some minutes later when Furbank got some more space. Standing up the defender with plenty of space, the England international popped the ball to Freeman to score in the corner and extend Northampton’s lead even more.
Before the break both sides would ride their luck. Whether it was Northampton dragging Jimmy Gopperth into tough in the act of scoring or spilling the ball just five meters out or throws that weren’t straight at the line-out, neither side could win the wrestle for momentum.
Riding their luck a bit too much, Northampton would be breached before the half was up. After kicking to the corner for the line-out, and whilst the maul went nowhere, carry and carry toward the line pinned in Saints defenders. Firing the ball out wide, full-back Freddie Steward went over relatively unopposed.
Undeterred by conceding last in the opening period, Northampton would extend their lead early in the second half. Scoring through Alex Coles to keep the fans vocal.
Keeping in the game thanks to a Guy Porter try, which involved a sumptuous offload from Nemani Nadolo, following treatment to replacement prop forward Ethan Waller things really sprung into life.
Bringing on an already tired Emmanuel Iyogun out of necessity would not be friendly to Phil Dowson’s side. Things were not helped when Juarno Augustus was sin binned for meddling at the ruck after Northampton received several warnings, but when Iyogun went to the bin for errant scrummaging, things got worse.
From the resulting penalty, Tigers kicked to the corner. While their maul went nowhere, several phases against 13-men truely left space out wide, Chris Ashton scoring to the boos of a crowd that used to adore him and hand the visitors the lead for the first time in the game.
Things would go from bad to worse with George Martin’s score. With the ball falling fortuitously to the flankers feet as a result of Mitchell knocking the ball on, the Saints scrum-half was sent to the sin bin, the try and conversion adding insult to injury.
Before time was up Freddie Steward would cross the try line three times. One of those scores was disallowed for the international knocking the ball on in the process of scoring, before making no mistakes moments later with opposition players wrapped around his waist and then with the freedom of Northampton to put a final nail in the coffin.
TRU’s Player of the Match Dan Cole had plenty of attention coming his way after the final whistle. From minute one, the 35-year-old had the better of his battle with 21-year-old Iyogun. It has led to plenty of speculation as to whether the 95-cap England international warrants a return to the international fold.
His head coach Steve Borthwick, who played with Cole for England, heaped plenty of praise on the tighthead who worked closely with the club’s Head of Physical Performance Aled Walters during the offseason.
“What he did in the offseason in his own time must of been superb because when he came in on day one of preseason, he looked in incredible shape,” Borthwick said.
“That’s a guy who knows what he wants. That’s a guy that’s determined to keep playing at the top level for a long time.”
Teams
Northampton Saints: G. Burbank; T. Freeman, F. Dingwall, R. Hutchinson, M. Proctor; D. Bigger, A. Mitchell; I. Iyogun, S. Matavesi, A. Petch, L. Salakaia-Loto, A. Coles, C. Lawes, L. Ludlam (c), J. Augustus
Replacements: M. Haywood, E. Waller, P. Hill, A. Moon, A. Scott-Young, T. James, J. Grayson, T. Collins
Leicester Tigers: F. Steward; H. Potter, G. Porter, J. Gopperth, N. Nadolo; F. Burns, J. Van Poortvliet; J. Cronin, C. Clare, D. Cole, O. Chessum, C. Green, G. Martin, T. Reffell, H. Liebenberg (c)
Replacements: J. Taufete’e, F. Van Wyk, J. Heyes, H. Wells, O. Cracknell, B. Youngs, P. Cokanasiga, C. Ashton
Player of the match: Dan Coles
Attendance: 14,623
