Northampton Saints seal tenth straight victory without Six Nations stars

Northampton Saints keep marching on as they claimed their 10th successive win in all competition after defeating Newcastle Falcons 38-13 at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday.

Despite being without seven of their top stars, who linked up with the England squad, the Saints raced to a bonus-point victory over a stubborn Falcons outfit.

Courtney Lawes, Sam Matavesi, Tom James, Ollie Sleightholme, and Juarno Augustus all dotted down in the victory, with Northampton also being awarded a penalty try. Charlie Savala kicked three conversions.

Louie Johnson’s two penalties and a conversion for Adam Radwan’s try kept Newcastle in the fight in the first half, but the Saints accelerated from there to seal yet another victory.

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The league leaders, bereft of players through international call-ups, took some time to subdue a battling Newcastle side, who belied their position at the bottom of the table by turning in a spirited performance.

However, the Falcons still ended up defeated once again and have picked up just four points from their 12 league fixtures this season, and remain without an away win since November 2022.

Rory Hutchinson, selected in an unaccustomed role of full-back, led out Saints on his 150th appearance for the club.

And he was instrumental in creating the first scoring opportunity of the game when he chipped ahead but a flying Sleightholme was unable to secure the touchdown before the ball ran dead.

Northampton maintained the pressure, but Falcons captain Callum Chick relieved it by intercepting a pass before kicking ahead. The Saints then infringed under their own posts for Johnson to knock over a simple penalty.

The home response was swift, with Lawes finishing off a succession of forward drives before Savala impressively converted from the touchline.
The lively opening continued with an excellent try for Newcastle. From a scrum in the opposition 22, they swiftly moved the ball along the line to provide Radwan with a walk-in.

Johnson’s conversion gave his side a 10-7 lead at the end of an entertaining first quarter.

Falcons then suffered a double blow with Northampton being awarded a penalty try after Freddie Lockwood, in an off-side position, prevented Sleightholme from scoring with the flanker collecting a yellow card for his troubles.

In Lockwood’s absence, Johnson reduced the arrears with his second penalty, but on his return, Matavesi crashed over from an unstoppable line-out drive for Saints to lead 19-13 at the interval.

Ten minutes after the restart, the home side scored their bonus-point try when Tom Litchfield’s break sent James on a 20 metre run-in before the industrious Sleightholme got his just deserts by scoring Saints’ fifth try.
Newcastle’s spirit was now crushed, and it was cruel on them that Saints should add another try when replacement Augustus used his power to crash over from close range.

In the final minute, Falcons replacement Rory Jennings picked up a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on, but the result has long since been decided.

Northampton Saints v Newcastle Falcons

Northampton: 15 Rory Hutchinson, 14 Gabriel Hamer-Webb, 13 Burger Odendaal, 12 Tom Litchfield, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Charlie Savala, 9 Tom James, 8 Sam Graham, 7 Lewis Ludlam (c), 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Chunya Munga, 4 Temo Mayanavanua, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Sam Matavesi, 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Alex Moon, 20 Juarno Augustus, 21 Angus Scott-Young, 22 Callum Braley, 23 Joel Matavesi

Newcastle: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Cameron Hutchison, 11 Ben Stevenson, 10 Louie Johnson, 9 Hugh O’Sullivan, 8 Callum Chick (c), 7 Guy Pepper, 6 Sam Cross, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 John Hawkins, 3 Murray McCallum, 2 Bryan Byrne, 1 Phil Brantingham
Replacements: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Tim Cardall, 20 Freddie Lockwood, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Rory Jennings, 23 Mateo Carreras

Venue: cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens
Kick-off: 14:00 GMT
Referee: Sara Cox
Assistant Referees: Adam Leal, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Andrew Jackson

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