Northampton Saints player ratings: Fin Smith ‘a class above’ as Henry Pollock ‘wreaks havoc’ over Bulls
Northampton Saints stars Henry Pollock and George Hendy (PA Images) and an inset of Fin Smith (INPHO/Tom O'Hanlon/EPCR Rugby)
Following Northampton Saints’ 50-5 hammering of the Bulls, here is how we rated the victors at Franklin’s Gardens.
Northampton Saints player ratings v Bulls
15 George Furbank (c): Saints fans will hope that the rumours that he could be going to Quins are just that, rumours. Sparked the attack that led to the opening try, bossed the kicking game from the back and was effective with ball in hand. He and Hendy repeatedly punished Kade Wolhuter’s attempts to get as much distance as he could with his penalty kicks. His captain’s review led to the yellow card that shifted momentum and killed off the balls. A class act throughout. 7
14 Ollie Sleightholme: Give him an inch, and he will score a try and showed no rust in doing so as he sped away for the opening try, leaving Stravino Jacobs in his dust. Doubled his tally in the second half in what was a strong return from injury. 7
13 Rory Hutchinson: Shut down the Bulls‘ attacks rather well, and despite his injury interrupting his performance, Hutchinson put in another solid shift. 7
12 Fraser Dingwall: A solid 57-minute shift from the Saints’ glue man in the backline. Asked good questions of the Bulls’ defence, with errors in the first half coming from those around him. 6
11 George Hendy: Plenty of handling errors, but those mistakes come with the sheer amount of work he gets through as he pops up in tricky situations for the defence to handle. Still, he finished the game with a hat-trick of tries, and while they looked like run-ins, he was in the right place at the right time, which is a skill in itself. A memorable night overall for the fleet-footed winger. 8
10 Fin Smith: Completely outclassed his opposition number. His kicking was of an incredibly high standard, while he didn’t force matters despite the plethora of handling errors that often stalled the side. He patiently waited for the opportunities to break the Bulls’ defence wide open and did so with precision. Responded to Marcus Smith’s man of the match shift with one of his own. 9
9 Alex Mitchell: Worked in tandem with Smith to cause all kinds of havoc for the Bulls’ backfield, and when the chance was there to up the tempo and create gaps, Mitchell marched the Saints on. 8
The forwards
8 Henry Pollock: Timed his pass to Sleightholme to perfection to set up the opening try, and made an incredible break in the build-up to Sleightholme’s second after crossing for one of his own. He is a menace when the game opens up, and today proved just that, wreaking havoc. There were moments when he was quiet, but when the opportunities arose to punish the Bulls, Pollock was right back in the thick of it. An outstanding performance. 8
7 Tom Pearson: Operated in an effective and efficient back row that kept the breakdown tempo and chopped down the Bulls’ carriers. Hardly put a foot wrong without being outrageous. 7
6 Josh Kemeny: Busy in all facets of the game and relentlessly chased the Saints’ kicks and competed at the ensuing breakdowns. Great at the lineouts too. 7
5 JJ van der Mescht: Somewhat error-ridden as he dropped the ball on a handful of occasions. The Bulls realised the threat that he posed and, to a large extent, nullified his impact. 5
4 Alex Coles: Capped off his performance with a well-taken try, which was just reward for another industrious display. 7
3 Trevor Davison: The scrums calls shifted from one set-piece to the next, but Davison was not at fault once and managed to get a pair of penalties out of Alulutho Tshakweni. He did his job, and did it well enough. 6
2 Craig Wright: His lineout darts were solid for the most part despite the pressure that the Bulls applied. He led the charge on defence and was effective in the breakdowns. 7
1 Danilo Fischetti: Eked out two penalties from Mornay Smith in the early scrums but went on to concede three thereafter. A hit and miss for the Azzurri loosehead. 5
Replacements: Saints had the Bulls on the ropes in the second half, and the bench delivered the killer blows, raising the tempo and putting the visitors to the sword. Tom James built on Mitchell’s fine start, Toby Thame had bright moments, and Chunya Munga was aggressive around the park and effective in the lineout. 8
