Northampton Saints 26-24 Gloucester Rugby
Northampton Saints opened their Aviva Premiership account for the 2011/12 season with a gripping and hard-fought 26-24 over Gloucester Rugby at Franklins Gardens.
With big-name players away on international duty, Northampton handed debuts to Cato, May, Doran-Jones, Roberts and Manoa in a bid to beat a side who did the double over them in the previous campaign. Gloucester were also missing internationals and so prop Dario Chistolini made his debut following his summer move from Italian side Petrarca.
Despite the slippy conditions, both sides started at a fast pace whilst keeping the ball in hand. The first chance fell to the Cherry and Whites through a penalty after the Saints didn't roll away but fly-half Tim Taylor pulled his kick to the left of the posts. On 14 minutes, indiscipline from Gloucester in the ruck gave experienced kicker Stephen Myler the opportunity to put the first points on the board and he kicked well to give the hosts the lead. Northampton 3-0 Gloucester
Samu Manoa was enjoying a solid debut, getting stuck into the Gloucester front-row but it was the Saints second-row who gave Taylor a second bite at the cherry after giving away another penalty. This time the kick was directly in front of the posts and Taylor made no mistake. Northampton 3-3 Gloucester
Just two minutes later, Northampton full-back Greig Tonks cleverly jinked his way through the visitors' defence in a move that his team-mate Ben Foden would have been proud of. Tonks then released skipped Phil Dowson who crashed over on the left. Myler added the extras with a good conversion and the Saints had their first try of the season. Northampton 10-3 Gloucester
Straight from the kick-off though and the visitors levelled the game with a well-taken try, albeit with a slice of luck. Tonks took the ball at full-back and as the Scot went to clear, his kick was charged down by Jonny May and the Gloucester number 13 chased the ball and touched down well underneath the posts. Taylor only had to convert the simplest of kicks to bring the game level just seconds after his side had gone behind. Northampton 10-10 Gloucester
The visitors were looking increasingly confident and after Northampton's scrum was wheeled round in their own 22, Gloucester had the chance to take the lead for the first time. Taylor had seemingly found his range and grabbed the three points to put the West Country side in front. Northampton 10-13 Gloucester
With six minutes to go until the half-time interval, it looked as though the home side would head for the break behind, until the quick-thinking of another debutant, Martin Roberts. Referee Andrew Small awarded the Saints a free-kick at the scrum and the Welshman tapped the ball quickly and dived over the line. After receiving confirmation from the TMO, the try was given and Myler converted the score to give the hosts a four-point lead at the interval. Northampton 17-13 Gloucester
Six minutes into the second half, the visitors gave away a penalty at the breakdown and Myler stepped up and extended Northampton's lead to seven points. Northampton 20-13 Gloucester. Five minutes later and the visitors' stand-in skipper Pete Buxton was the next man to be penalised at the ruck, this time receiving a yellow card from referee Small who had had enough of the persistent infringements. Myler punished Gloucester again with the boot, adding another three points. Northampton 23-13 Gloucester. The Saints were proving to be equally as ill-disciplined and quickly gave away two penalties in succession. Substitute kicker Freddie Burns could only convert one and brought the gap back down to seven points once more. Northampton 23-16 Gloucester
The Cherry and Whites smelt blood and when Lesley Vainikolo charged through to set up Charlie Sharples to score, the match became a two-point affair. Burns however, skewed the conversion and missed the chance to level up the game heading into the last eight minutes. Northampton 23-21 Gloucester
In a dramatic end to the game, Burns thought he had won it with a well-taken drop-goal with just three minutes left to go. The visitors celebrated wildly, believing they had sealed victory at Franklins Gardens for a second successive year. Northampton 23-24 Gloucester. Another twist was soon to follow as referee Small handed the Saints a penalty and also a chance to sneak victory. Substitute Ryan Lamb, who had already missed a kick, struck the ball through the posts from 45 yards out and gave his side a superb victory over his former employers. Northampton 26-24 Gloucester
This was a hugely entertaining game and provided positives for both sides as they look to go one step further than the Premiership semi-finals which they reached last season. Northampton will be delighted that they have recorded a victory despite missing many of their best players whilst Gloucester will be disappointed that when leading with four minutes to go, they couldn't see the game out.
Man of the Match “ Phil Dowson
