Northampton anxiously await update as Lewis Ludlam is helped from field

Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson was left concerned by an injury to captain Lewis Ludlam during his side’s dramatic 36-33 victory over Harlequins in the Gallagher Premiership.

Ludlam had to be helped from the field towards the end of the first half at Franklin’s Gardens in what was the England back-rower’s third appearance since returning from the Rugby World Cup.

It was one of the reasons why Dowson was left with mixed feelings following a match where Northampton struggled to shake Quins off in a bizarre contest featuring five tries for both sides.

Dowson said: “It doesn’t look amazing. I think it’s his ankle, certainly lower limb, I don’t actually know what they’ve found.

“He’s in a (protective) boot and he’ll get scanned as quickly as possible.

“He’s been brilliant since coming back from the World Cup, both from a playing point of view and a leadership point of view, so hopefully we can turn him around.”

On his side holding out for victory, Dowson added: “At the end there you’ve given away a bonus point because you haven’t managed to clear your lines efficiently, so there’s so much to work on.

“What I’m always delighted with and pleased with is the attitude of the group to keep fighting, to find a way, to be frustrated from last week and apply themselves during the week.

“I thought that was a very positive aspect of the game.”

Harlequins led through tries from Cadan Murley and Jack Walker to cancel out Ollie Sleightholme’s effort for Saints, who were then gifted scores for Ludlam and Alex Mitchell to go 21-12 ahead at half-time.

Alex Coles and Sleightholme then struck in the second half for Saints, who just about held off Quins as they claimed two bonus points thanks to tries from George Hammond, Will Evans and Nathan Jibulu.

Harlequins coaching co-ordinator Danny Wilson said: “Scoring 33 points, five tries, away from home, you’d like to think you’ll come out with a win.

“It’s kind of hard to see past that at the moment, but it’s a game where we handed Northampton 14 points, literally handed them with one scrum exit, one line-out exit where the ball is off the floor and into their hands very close to our own line.

“That’s 14 points they haven’t had to work for, that’s probably the most frustrating thing and the key moment of the game.

“We’ve had to work very hard for our tries, we scored good tries and I think we’ll look back on it and it will be a missed opportunity.

“However, as the minimum we’re proud that we played more like us than we did last week (against Saracens) and looked like Harlequins again this week.”