Northampton power past Exiles
Northampton Saints continued with their fine form when they claimed a 40-25 victory over London Irish at the Madejski stadium on Sunday.
The Saints delivered a superb all-round effort and raced into a 26-6 lead at half-time thanks to a brace of tried from Rob Horne and further five-pointers from Nic Groom and Mikey Haywood with the Exiles' only points off the half coming off the boot of Tommy Bell.
Northampton eventually outscored their hosts five tries to three with George North and Cobus Reinach also crossing for five-pointers for the visitors and Alex Lewington, Bell and Josh McNally scored London Irish's tries.
The Saints were fastest out of the blocks and scored the opening try as early as the second minute – Groom rounding off after North impressed in the build up.
Harry Mallinder added the extras and shortly afterwards Horne crossed for his first try after beating three defenders on his way over the whitewash.
The Exiles opened their account five minutes later courtesy of a Bell penalty but Horne increased the visitors' lead in the 26th minute when he showed great determination and leg drive to power his way over the try-line for the second time.
The visitors continued to dominate and secured their bonus-point try in the 32nd minute when Haywood dotted down off the back of a lineout drive close to the home side's try-line.
Bell added another try on the stroke of half-time and the Saints had their tails up as the teams changed sides at the break.
London Irish made a superb start to the second half when Lewington crossed for their opening try after a brilliant solo run.
Northampton restored parity in the 54th minute, however, when North crossed the whitewash after the ball was taken through five phases in the build-up.
The Saints continued to dominate and sealed their win when Reinach scored their fifth try in the 78th minute although there was still time for McNally to cross for a consolation score in the game's closing stages.
The scorers:
For London Irish:
Tries: Lewington, Bell, McNally
Cons: Bell, Tonks
Pens: Bell 2
For Northampton Saints:
Tries: Groom, Horne 2, Haywood, North, Reinach
Cons: Mallinder 5
London Irish: 15 Tommy Bell, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Aseli Tikoirotuma, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Napolioni Nalaga, 10 James Marshall, 9 Brendan McKibbin, 8 Blair Cowan, 7 Conor Gilsenan, 6 Josh McNally, 5 Sebastian De Chaves, 4 Franco van der Merwe, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 Dave Porecki, 1 Ben Franks (c)
Replacements: 16 David Paice, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Teofilo Paulo, 20 Jake Schatz, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Greig Tonks, 23 Topsy Ojo
Northampton Saints: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 George North, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Tom Collins, 10 Harry Mallinder, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Sam Dickinson, 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Courtney Lawes (c), 5 David Ribbans, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Reece Marshall, 17 Campese Ma’afu, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Christian Day, 20 Ben Nutley, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 James Grayson, 23 Ben Foden
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace, Greg Macdonald
TMO: Sean Davey