Fears over Courtney Lawes as Northampton Saints secure bonus-point win
Northampton Saints will enter the final round of the Heineken Champions Cup group phase with the quarter-finals in their sights after edging out Benetton Rugby 33-20 at Franklin’s Gardens.
Centre Fraser Dingwall ran in the critical try in the 72nd minute when his footwork, combined with a hard line, swept him over for Saints’ bonus-point fourth try to bolster hopes of qualifying as one of the best runners-up.
Up until that point they had made heavy weather against spirited opponents, who at one point threatened to move eight points clear only for Tommaso Allan to miss a kickable penalty.
Much of Northampton’s problems rested with their line-out which malfunctioned alarmingly in the first half, losing five on their own throw.
The victory also appeared to come at the cost of an injury to Courtney Lawes, who failed to appear for the second half with England coach Eddie Jones watching from the stands.
Play was held up in the opening period as David Ribbans received treatment to his left ankle and after attempting to run off the injury he limped off, but it was the only blot on an otherwise buoyant start by Northampton.
Fly-half James Grayson pulled the strings as a back move released Taqele Naiyaravoro off his wing and ended with Harry Mallinder diving over in the right corner in the sixth minute.
Mallinder was mobbed by team-mates in recognition of his first appearance after 15 months out with a knee injury.
For all their domination, however, Northampton Saints were unable to capitalise as chances came thick and fast.
A long forward pass to Ollie Sleightholme by Grayson wasted a clear overlap and when Benetton were shoved off their own ball at a scrum, poor decision making and a fumble by Naiyaravoro let the underdogs off the hook.
Saints’ line-out woes acted as a backdrop to the first half and in the 34th minute they slipped behind as a loose pass by prop Francois Van Wyk fell for Tommaso Benvenuti and the Italy centre won the race for the whitewash.
The try came while Bennetton’s replacement scrum-half Charly Trussardi was in the sin-bin for coming in at the side, adding to Northampton’s embarrassment.
It took just three minutes of the second half for Saints to restore their lead as a strong carry from Lewis Ludlam forced the visitors to scramble, opening a hole that was exploited by Api Ratuniyarawa and Henry Taylor, who crossed for Northampton’s second try.
The resurgence was short-lived, though, as visiting hooker Hame Faiva finished a driving maul and when Allan converted Benetton led 17-12.
It then became the Italians’ turn to self-destruct as successive neck roles saw a penalty from in front of the posts reversed, costing a certain three points whose value was underline when Allan then missed a longer-range effort.
Northampton hit back through Van Wyk as Benetton struggled to reform their defence in time to withstand a sharp series of attacks but once again they fell behind when Allan landed a penalty.
Naiyaravoro appeared to have scored only for a knock-on by Rory Hutchinson two passes earlier to be spotted, but the key try arrived in the 72nd minute when a five-metre scrum saw Dingwall take a flat line to score.
Replacement back Andy Symons then put the result beyond doubt in the closing moments.
Press Association
The match in images:
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments