Northampton Rugby

At 18-8 down in the first half, away from home and being outclassed by London Irish it seemed unlikely Northampton would be celebrating at full time. But after a change of style and a spectacular comeback that is just what happened.

The Saints were failing to exert superiority in the pack and were being run ragged by Irish’s backs. The flawless performance from the Exiles meant that late in the second half, at 18-8 down things were looking bleak for the Saints. A mistake from the Irish scrum half, Ross Samson though allowed them to see a glimmer of hope. A mistimed kick when Samson thought time was up allowed Northampton to gain possession and eventually gain a kickable penalty which Stephen Myler slotted home to keep any slight chances of a turnaround alive.

Saints came out for the second half with a degree of belief and began to keep hold of the ball. Possession proved to be important and the turnaround began. At seven points down the next score was important and a missed dropped goal from Irish allowed Saints to close the gap further and along with a clever flat pass from Myler to set up a third try of the day for Saints and give them a 23-18 lead.

Irish drew level through a try in the corner and when the conversion was missed the 23-23 scoreline ensured a tense finish. Saints secured a well earned victory with a charge down on a kick in the Irish 22 allowing Ben Nutley to latch onto the loose ball and secure victory with his first try for Northampton.

Whatever was said at half time clearly made an impact and Stephen Myler confirmed as much after the game. He accepted that things had not gone as they had expected in the first half and a change of approach in the second allowed Saints to run out with victory and a try scoring bonus point.