Northampton Saints outplay Wasps at Franklin's Gardens

Northampton Saints 36-17 Wasps, Franklin's Gardens
Scorecard

Northampton Saints came up with an impressive display at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday as they outplayed Wasps with a 36-17 victory.

This is Northampton's third win from seven games as they move to the eighth place while Wasps are at fourth with 19 points.

Winger Andrew Kellaway kick-started the proceedings for the host with a sixth minute try. James Grayson missed out on the conversion but added a penalty in the 19th minute to take them to a 10-0 lead.

Wasps' problem compounded further when Thomas Young was sin-binned in the 35th minute and the home side made full use of the numerical advantage with Grayson's penalty kick followed by a touchdown from Fraser Dingwall on his debut as the Saints scored 16 unanswered points.

A penalty from Lima Sopoaga at the stroke of half-time ensured Wasps got their first points before the break but they still trailed by 13 points.

Piers Francis (44'), Taqele Naiyaravoro (55'), Ollie Sleightholme (70') scored second half tries for the Saints as they increased their tally to 36 points but Wasps were never in the game despite an improved performance after the break where they managed tries from Young (51') and Josh Bassett (74').

Northampton head coach Chris Boyd said: “We’ve been on the wrong end of the score a couple of times when we haven’t had the luck, but this was our best performance of the season.

“Wasps had a very good back line, but we did very well in the tackle area and slowed their ball down to give us more time to get organised.

“Our defensive organisation was good and we got in a good shape.”