Northampton v Cardiff: Five takeaways as ‘startling contribution’ from England hopeful lights up ‘dreary’ contest
Northampton's match-winner George Hendy and, inset, Cardiff's Taulupe Faletau
After a low-frills 28-12 win for Northampton against Cardiff in Sunday’s final Investec Champions Cup fixture, Planet Rugby selects five takeaways from the round-one action.
The top line
This was a real grind, a wet-ball slog that was in stark contrast to Northampton’s swashbuckling second-half swamping of Prem rivals Bath last weekend. That 40-minute show of force featured 45 points and seven tries, but the calibre of rugby across the 80 minutes here was ball-up-the-jumper amid the rain-soaked conditions.
The scoreboard was put to work with the well-taken 12th minute try created by George Hendy’s aerial catch and run from halfway, an attack that linked with Alex Mitchell before James Pater’s finish. A second converted try followed eight minutes later, midfielder Toby Thame blasting over off a quickly tapped free. However, they were made to 44 minutes before touching down again.
In the meantime, the closest Cardiff came to getting back into the contest before the break was Tom Manz’ 33rd minute try. This was cancelled after the TMO belatedly identified that the ball had squirmed from his grasp with Callum Chick’s intervention.
The United Rugby Championship side, Wales’ only representation in the Champions Cup, did hit back seven minutes into the second-half, with Harri Millard getting the credit, and they struck for a second on 60 minutes through Mason Grady shortly after Anthony Belleau was yellow-carded for cynical ruck play.
Behind by just two points, the possibility of an upset result had materialised, but this notion was fleeting as Hendy struck for a 64th-minute score and Saints’ win was confirmed by Fraser Dingwall’s 79th-minute effort.
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Startling Hendy
Steve Borthwick was away in France on Sunday, taking in Exeter at Toulouse, but hopefully Hendy’s latest highlight reel will soon reach him. But for the winger’s startling contribution on a dreary evening, Saints could have been ambushed at home.
We started the match with eyes on Mitchell, given the England squad announcement for the November internationals isn’t that far away, but we ended it casting admiring glances in the uncapped Hendy’s direction.
England scrum-half Mitchell began his club season sharing minutes behind Archie McParland, but he has now upped his contribution and had slick passing contributions in Saints’ two first-half tries before his 57-minute withdrawal.
However, when it comes to swooning over Test-level Red Rose selection, you needn’t look further than Hendy. It was his aerial catch and acceleration on landing that fractured the Cardiff defence for the game’s opening score, but a four-minute second-half contribution stood out the most.
Only ahead 14-12 after an enormous scoring lull, Hendy broke the tedium with a 64th-minute finish that showcased his handling dexterity as he managed to keep the ball alive with a juggle before grasping it at the fourth attempt and scoring.
Then came a wondrous piece of defending in the 68th minute. He looked beaten on halfway when Josh Adams got away, but Hendy recovered from a stumble to tackle the British and Irish Lions Test pick into touch about 10 metres from the try line.
It was a sweet sprint recovery and a tremendously physical tackle that surely can’t escape the notice of Borthwick.
Cardiff’s dastardly start
Buoyed by two wins in their opening three URC matches, Cardiff would have arrived at the home of the English Prem champions wanting to make a strong early impression, but they endured a miserable start which set them up for the loss that materialised.
They had two lineouts in Saints territory, the first on the 10-metre and the second on the 22, and both were butchered. Josh Kemeny stole the first and skipper Dafydd Hughes’ throw for the second wasn’t straight, which was incredibly frustrating as the latter territory stemmed from a breakdown penalty win from Johan Mulder that kicked down the line.
They did manage to win two other throws to the front, but that came across as nervy possession lacking in confidence and threat, while their scrum also faltered, coughing up two scrum penalties.
The second came on their own 15th-minute put-in, by which stage they were 0-7 behind following Hendy’s touch of brilliance, and that margin was extended five minutes later after Grady’s follow-up folly.
There was no need to touch down a Rory Hutchinson kick after he carried it behind the goal line, but he did and a free-kick at the resulting scrum led to Thame crashing over to score.
Cardiff has two gilt-edged chances to get back into the contest, but a 28th-minute lineout five metres out was stolen by Tom Lockett after another poor-looking Hughes’ throw, and Manz then lost the ball when grounding five minutes later.
That was followed by another not-straight Hughes throw in the 22 and a penalty at the resulting scrum. Ouch.
Welsh wizard
What a treat it was to see Welsh wizard Taulupe Faletau back in full flow following his latest recovery from injury. So desperate has been the run he is on that you have to go back to July 2025 to find the last of his 109 caps for his country.
However, he made his latest return to club action last weekend at Leinster in the URC and he was central to Cardiff’s stickability in this tussle at Northampton.
The 35-year-old guile was clear to see with his incredible 29th-minute denial of Chick at the try line, the No.8 managing to get his toe under the ball as the Saints player went to reach out for the score.
That was defensive class. So too his work rate on the ball. He reached the interval with 65 metres made from nine carries, and he was still at it when it came to his final carry on 57 minutes, taking the ball at the back of a scrum five metres from his own line and blasting forward into the Northampton tacklers.
On this evidence, a call from Wales boss Steve Tandy should be expected for the November internationals.
Saints to Prem’s rescue
It was an exasperating weekend results-wise for Prem Rugby fans as they were kept starved of a single Champions Cup win until Jeremy Rozier blew the final whistle at 7:16pm at Franklin’s to bring to a halt the final match of the weekend and confirm Saints’ 16-point win.
The eight English clubs came into this latest European season hyped up by the cracking entertainment served up across three rounds of domestic league action. A record 143 tries were scored in the 15 matches, an average of 9.5 per game.
However, as brilliant as that was for fans of all-out attacking rugby, the fear was that the level of exposed defending could have European repercussions, and this weekend’s three-league opening round in the Champions Cup very much went against the Prem.
It started with a thrilling draw for Gloucester at home to defending European champions Bordeaux, but Sale, Saracens, Bristol, Bath, Leicester and Exeter – whose loss at Toulouse was especially cruel – were all picked off before round one ended with Saints stuttering to victory.
It left the inter-league results reading: Top 14 3.5-1.5 Prem, Top 14 1-3 URC, Prem 1-3 URC. That was a deflating reminder that things do still go up a notch in Europe, despite the competition’s once dazzling reputation taking a hit in the last while.