East Midlands derby sees first red card in a decade as leaders Northampton Saints damage Leicester Tigers’ play-off hopes
Solomone Kata sent off for Leicester Tigers against Northampton Saints in the Premiership in 2024.
Northampton Saints moved closer to securing a play-off spot after they thrashed arch-rivals Leicester Tigers 40-17 in the Premiership on Saturday.
The match was tight and tense for the opening hour as the Saints led by just a point, but Solomone Kata’s red card changed the complexion of the match.
With Northampton 18-17 ahead, Kata was correctly dismissed for a high shot – the first red card in this fixture since 2014.
The hosts duly took advantage as Robbie Smith, George Hendy and Tom James all went over, adding to Curtis Langdon’s earlier score and a penalty try.
Leicester kept themselves in the game through Julian Montoya and Jasper Wiese tries, but their Premiership top-four chances are hanging by a thread.
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Leicester had gone into the derby having won five of their past six meetings with their local rivals and the Tigers started well on the renewal of the old rivalry.
Referee Christophe Ridley sin binned Saints prop Elliot Millar Mills for head-on-head contact with Ollie Chessum as the visitors pushed forward and they took the lead when skipper Julian Montoya went over on the back of a lineout drive.
Handre Pollard converted well but Northampton hit back with a George Furbank penalty.
Pollard cancelled that out with an effort of his own as the two sides continued to trade blows.
Northampton thought they had scored when Alex Mitchell went for the line, but he was held up.
Leicester remained under pressure and after Furbank claimed his second penalty, influential Tigers number eight Jasper Wiese paid the price for his side’s persistent offending with a yellow card.
Northampton could not capitalise as their opponents held a four-point lead at the break but soon after the restart, the Saints had their try as Curtis Langdon went flying down the left and used his speed and strength to score.
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The hosts were suddenly building momentum and they were awarded a penalty try after a deliberate knock-on from Jamie Shillcock when Furbank tried to send the final pass out wide.
Shillcock was sin-binned and the home fans roared their approval at how the start to the second half had unfolded.
But Tigers hit back with ferocity as Wiese powered over from the back of a lineout.
The key moment came four minutes later though as the referee saw replays of Kata’s hit on Dingwall on the big screen and consulted his TMO, coming to the conclusion that the high tackle had a high level of danger, earning Kata a red card.
Northampton took advantage in ruthless fashion, scoring from a maul via Robbie Smith before efforts from George Hendy and Tom James, along with a tidy Fin Smith drop goal, finished the job.
Hendy was shown a yellow card with nine minutes to go but it mattered not for a Saints side who had the game well won by then.
Northampton Saints: 15 James Ramm, 14 George Hendy, 13 Tom Litchfield, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Tom Seabrook, 10 George Furbank, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Lewis Ludlam (c), 6 Alex Coles, 5 Temo Mayanavanua, 4 Alex Moon, 3 Elliot Millar Mills, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Tom Lockett, 20 Sam Graham, 21 Tom James, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Tommy Freeman
Leicester Tigers: 15 Jamie Shillcock, 14 Freddie Steward, 13 Dan Kelly, 12 Solomone Kata, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Finn Carnduff, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Julián Montoya, 1 James Cronin
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Kyle Hatherell, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Phil Cokanasiga, 23 Mike Brown
Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant Referees: Joe James, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Andrew Jackson