England prospects inspire Northampton Saints turnaround while Mako Vunipola sent off in Saracens’ win

Planet Rugby
George Furbank in action for Northampton Saints in the Premiership in 2023.

George Furbank in action for Northampton Saints in the Premiership in 2023.

Northampton Saints’ talented backline showed their class in the second half to help their side recover from a 14-0 deficit and defeat Sale Sharks 21-17.

In a game that took a while to get going, Sale went into the break 7-0 in front via Joe Carpenter’s try before Luke Cowan-Dickie touched down for a 14-point buffer with half-an-hour remaining, but the Saints hit back.

Northampton’s pressure was unrelenting and finally they managed to unlock the visitors’ stubborn defence.

England scrum-half Alex Mitchell consistently probed around the fringes while his half-back partner Fin Smith outshone George Ford.

Those two combined to release Tommy Freeman and George Furbank into space, who are both pushing hard to get into Steve Borthwick’s squad.

Furbank’s try got the Saints back into the contest and, although Ford kicked a drop-goal for Sale, Mitchell’s score and a penalty try snatched a deserved win for Northampton.

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Sale had missed a chance to go ahead early on as Ford sent a long-range penalty wide of the posts.

Frustration was growing for the hosts as the wind and rain swirled around the sold-out Gardens, and the weather prevented Smith from giving Saints the lead as his penalty dropped just short of the posts.

A sucker punch was landed by Sale just before the break as a high ball wreaked havoc and the visitors used their penalty advantage to send Carpenter over for a precious opening try.

Ford slotted the conversion to make it 7-0 at the break and Northampton were thwarted in their attempts to respond just after the restart as Ollie Sleightholme was bundled into touch.

Sale then rubbed further salt into the wounds as they scored from their first attack of the second period, kicking a penalty to the corner before Cowan-Dickie barged over.

Ford converted to make it 14-0 and it was looking a long way back for Northampton.

But the Saints summoned a response as Rory Hutchinson released the onrushing Furbank, who flew over the line for a timely try.

Smith converted superbly from the touchline, but Sale responded with a Ford drop-goal to ensure the gap was 10 points with 20 minutes to go.

Saints refused to go quietly and after Sleightholme flew through the middle, the home side kept pushing to allow Mitchell to finish things off.

Smith converted to cut the gap to three points with 14 minutes remaining as the noise and tension entered a different stratosphere.

Northampton were flying forward and they had the lead when awarded a penalty try for Asher Opoku-Fordjour tackling from an offside position following some quick thinking by the Saints.

There was still time for a Sharks line-out chance in home territory, but it was stolen and Northampton ran the ball clear before booting it out to secure the win.

Ben Earl returns as 14-man Saracens beat Newcastle

England back-rower Ben Earl returned from injury as Saracens got back to winning ways in the Premiership with a 37-19 victory over bottom side Newcastle Falcons.

It was Earl’s first action in nearly two months following a leg injury and the 25-year-old, who had made a big impression during the World Cup earlier in the year, helped his club put recent losses to Northampton and Sale behind them.

The champions remain fifth in the table, but they are set to be without Mako Vunipola for several weeks after he was sent off for a headshot on Bryan Byrne off the final play.

Rory Jennings kicked the first points of the game for Newcastle inside two minutes before a prolonged spell of Saracens pressure eventually led to hooker Theo Dan barging his way over from close range.

Manu Vunipola missed the conversion and Falcons were next to strike when, from a loose pass in his own team’s 22, Adam Radwan hacked the ball clear on two occasions before his searing pace allowed him to follow up and go clear.

Jennings added the extras and then banged over a penalty from just over 40 metres soon after to increase the visitors’ lead to 13-5.

Manu Vunipola quickly narrowed the gap to five points with a penalty of his own, but the hosts had a let-off when a Iwan Stephens ‘try’ on the counter was ruled out for a knock-on by Guy Pepper just before the openside hacked clear.

Within a minute, Sarries scrum-half Ivan van Zyl struck after quickly taking a penalty for a high tackle, and Manu Vunipola’s conversion gave his side the lead, one they retained after Jennings sent a shot from his own half wide.

The Falcons fly-half did kick his side in front again with his third penalty, soon after Olly Hartley had been denied a score due to a forward pass by Van Zyl.

But the visitors could not hold on until the break as Juan Martin Gonzalez dummied before gliding over off the final play of the first half.

It meant Saracens turned around 22-16 ahead, with Manu Vunipola and Jennings then exchanging penalties in the early stages of the second half to keep the gap at six points.

The inevitable raft of replacements, coupled with the worsening conditions, hurt the game’s flow, but Saracens had their bonus point after 64 minutes when they were awarded a penalty try as a driving maul heading for the Newcastle line was collapsed.

Falcons captain Callum Chick was sent to the sin bin as a result and he was still off the field by the time Mako Vunipola squeezed his way over before his late red card took some of the shine off for Saracens.

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Newcastle Mako Vunipola

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