Northampton v Leicester: Five takeaways as Saints suffer ‘derby disaster’ with England playmaker ‘pulling the strings’ in Test team-mate’s absence

Northampton v Leicester: Five takeaways as Saints suffer ‘derby disaster’ with England playmaker ‘pulling the strings’ in Test team-mate’s absence

Jack van Poortvliet in action for Leicester Tigers against Northampton Saints and Charlie Clare scoring the bonus-point try.

Following a 33-0 victory for Leicester Tigers over Northampton Saints, here are our five takeaways from the Premiership encounter at Franklin’s Gardens on Friday.

The top line

It was an absolute derby day disaster for Northampton Saints after they were embarrassed by their arch-rivals at Franklin’s Gardens.

The Saints needed a win – and likely with a bonus-point – to give themselves a shot at the Premiership play-offs, but in the end it was the Tigers who came away with the full five to take the bragging rights and boost their title hopes.

Considering what was at stake, it was an abysmal performance from Northampton, who found themselves 17 points in arrears after just 13 minutes. They conceded three tries through Adam Radwan, Jack van Poortvliet and Olly Cracknell – the first two superbly created and finished – to put the hosts on the back foot early on.

Handre Pollard then added two penalties to move the visitors 23-0 ahead at the break. It was then a simple matter of controlling the game for Leicester and giving their opponents nothing to feed off, which they did with aplomb. Pollard kicked a third three-pointer before they waited for the almost inevitable Saints mistake to hand them the bonus-point score, which came five minutes from time via Charlie Clare.

‘Clunky’

It was the word used by Northampton attack guru Sam Vesty to describe their performance and it was apt, although the fans may say something slightly harsher and expletive-laden. For all the teams heading back into Premiership action after almost two months without a league game due to the Six Nations break, there was always the worry of a slow start.

Those fears were realised for the Saints as the usually slick outfit were sadly lacking in most aspects as they made a series of errors in attack and defence. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how well training has gone or the intensity they’ve been at to try and replicate the match setting as the game will reveal all.

Leicester were excellent by contrast, with their physicality and focus on point, but perhaps their more simplistic game plan paid dividends in the first match back. Certainly Hanro Liebenberg revelled in his duties, earning a hat-trick of intercepts to rather sum up the hosts’ evening.

And then the rain came

It was difficult enough being 17 points down after three tries in 13 minutes from the Tigers, but they then had to chase the game when the heavens opened. There were mistakes aplenty when it was dry but, with them having to force it when rain teemed down, they finished on zero points as even more errors followed.

All Leicester had to do was keep their concentration and remain disciplined, which they did effectively throughout. The hosts were better in the second period and tried hard to eat into that lead, and to an extent were unlucky with three disallowed scores, but it was a chastening evening against their arch-rivals.

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Laying down a marker

Some Six Nations stars played while others didn’t, but Van Poortvliet, who featured off the bench against Italy and Wales, will certainly be glad he did. The England scrum-half was superb, particularly in the opening period, and pulled the strings as Leicester moved into an unassailable lead at the break.

The highlight was undoubtedly his brilliant individual try as the scrum-half broke through the middle of the ruck, chipped ahead and recollected to touch down. Van Poortvliet is often praised for his slick service and ability to dictate the tempo, but he is quicker than he is credited for.

Test colleague Alex Mitchell is more renowned for his work around the fringes but, with the Red Rose star not featuring for Northampton, it enabled Van Poortvliet to dominate and show off his vast array of skills.

Elsewhere, Freddie Steward – perhaps the unluckiest player in England at the moment – refuses to be affected by his international exclusion and served another reminder to Steve Borthwick that he will continue to produce high-level displays.

As for the Saints, there was little to shout about, with Fin Smith and Fraser Dingwall not enjoying their time back in the club saddle, but Henry Pollock made a good impression from the bench. Pollock looks to have a long Test career in front of him judging by his cameo against Wales and was the Saints’ one shining light on Friday.

Not just their inability to keep the opposition from scoring points but their pretty limp title defence in general. After their latest defeat – a seventh in 12 Premiership matches – they remain down in eighth position and a fair bit behind the play-off places.

Northampton are currently 14 points behind their arch-rivals Leicester, who are in third, while fourth-placed Gloucester could join them on that tally with a bonus-point victory over Bath on Sunday. Before that, either Saracens or Harlequins, who face-off on Saturday, will boost their play-off hopes and extend the gap to the champions.

With just six matches remaining for Phil Dowson’s men, they will need to go on an incredible run to even give themselves a shot of making the top-eight. But to be perfectly honest, their race might already be run.