Aviva Premiership round-up: Northampton Saints demolish London Wasps
On paper, Northampton Saints’ away trip to London Wasps looked a tricky tie to navigate for Jim Mallinder’s side.
But the reality was far more straightforward for Northampton, who continue to march on at the top end of the Aviva Premiership.
The visitors led 25-3 at the break, and then made it 37-10 at the final whistle after crossing the line five times. Mallinder was reluctant to claim this was a performance of potential champions, but revealed that he was pleased with the manner of the victory.
"That was a very satisfying performance," the head coach said. "We've never won down here before so we knew we needed to play well and we certainly did that today."
Wasps heavy defeat was further soured after Riki Flutey limped off with a calf injury during the match, and the centre is now a doubt for England’s autumn international Test against New Zealand next month.
Meanwhile, London Irish remain top of the league after a narrow 12-9 away win over Exeter Chiefs. It was a battle of the boot at Sandy Park, won by Exiles’ fly-half Ryan Lamb, who scored all of the visitor’s points to seal the club’s fifth league win of the season.
Saracens also recorded their fifth win from their opening six matches of the campaign with a tight 15-13 win against Newcastle Falcons. Alex Goode was the hero for the travelling Sarries, after scoring five penalties to seal the points. Newcastle head coach, Alan Tait, was left bitterly disappointed after watching his side waste a glorious opportunity to secure a precious victory; while Saracens director of rugby, Brendan Venter, hailed the efforts of his players.
"The players kept it going for the whole 80 minutes and they never let their heads drop," Venter commented.
Completing the top four are Gloucester, who are currently in the middle of a purple patch. Bryan Redpath’s side ran out 33-26 winners against Harlequins at Kingsholm on Saturday to continue their excellent start to the season.
It’s a rather unusual sight to see Leicester Tigers outside the top four, but they’re now firmly on course to overcome their shaky start, following a morale-boosting 21-15 home win over Bath.
Leicester fly-half Toby Flood was at his clinical best, and produced a man of the match performance at Welford Road by scoring all 21 of his side’s points. Currently in fifth place in the Premiership, it shouldn’t be too much longer until the Tigers are back where they belong.
At the opposite end of the league table, Leeds Carnegie are still in dire straits after their sixth consecutive league defeat. A losing bonus-point against Sale Sharks couldn’t hide the fact that Leeds were awful at the weekend, while their opponents weren’t much better, winning by a mere three points in a 6-3 win.
"I don't believe we are devoid of confidence," Leeds head coach Neil Back revealed after the final whistle. "It was a tough game dominated by defences."
Not devoid of confidence? Tell that to the long-suffering Leeds faithful, Mr Back.
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