Northampton overcome Rees-Zammit hat-trick to beat Gloucester 33-26

Northampton Saints 33-26 Gloucester Rugby, Franklin's Gardens
Scorecard

Northampton Saints successfully overcame a hat-trick from Louis Rees-Zammit as they defeated Gloucester Rugby 33-26 in the seventh round of the Gallagher Premiership at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday.

The win has taken Northampton Saints to the top of the table with 23 points while Gloucester are at third with 18 points.

Mark Atkinson set the tone early for the visitors with a grubber kick that was seized by winger Rees-Zammit as he dotted down early in the seventh minute and Danny Cipriani followed with the conversion making the scoreline 0-7. However, by the 18th minute they lost Charlie Sharples to injury and conceded a penalty kick which Dan Biggar kicked close to the 25th minute.

The Saints began to take control after Mikey Haywood went over the line in the 32nd minute following a lineout drive and Biggar's conversion and a penalty kick ensured they finished the first half with a 13-7 scoreline.

Northampton were quick to get off the block in the second half with Cobus Reinach crossing over and few minutes later the scrumhalf thought he scored again but was denied for an offside from Tom Collins. This came after Northampton lost Biggar to injury.

Nevertheless, it was a matter of time before Reinach scored his second in the 50th minute but his efforts were cancelled with tries from Chris Harris and Rees-Zammit in the 47th and 55th minutes respectively making the scoreline 27-21.

Gloucester suffered a setback when Josh Hohneck was sin-binned in the 61st minute for a strike on the neck of Andy Symons and Francis kicked a penalty goal to make it 30-21. Rees-Zammit with his third in the 75th minute brought the gap down to four points but Francis with his second penalty kick ensured a seven point win for the Saints.