Bok tries not enough as Saints edge Sale
PREMIERSHIP SATURDAY WRAP: Northampton Saints edged Sale Sharks 17-14 at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday.
In Saturday's other matches Exeter Chiefs edged Harlequins 21-20 in a thriller, while Bath thumped Newcastle Falcons 38-19. Meanwhile, Leicester beat Gloucester 20-14.
In a gripping contest between two in-form Premiership sides, Sale dominated possession and territory early in the game but failed to capitalise on an impressive first quarter and allowed Saints to take a foothold on the scoreboard before the interval.
Northampton were clinical in their attack and after making the most of their first visit to the Sharks 22, crashed over to score through Tiemana Harrison following a line-out inside the Sale red zone. Northampton, marshalled well by flyhalf James Grayson, played possession well to frustrate Sale after the try and saw out the first half without conceding any points.
Sale responded well following the interval and after charging down Saints' initial clearance after the restart, looked to be on the money inside the Northampton 22, but the visitors yet again failed to take advantage of their dominance. Grayson would increase his team's lead to fourteen points before the Sharks finally kicked into gear.
After Faf de Klerk was replaced by understudy Raffi Quirke, the Sharks found some much-needed energy in attack and following a bout of pressure in the Northampton half, Sale finally crossed the whitewash as Springbok Jean-Luc du Preez powered over to score. AJ MacGinty converted the South African's try but the Sharks still had it all to do.
Grayson kicked a fourth penalty taking the Saints tally to 17 points before Springbok Lood de Jager powered over following a close-range line-out, with MacGinty reducing the deficit to just 3 points after slotting a tricky conversion from out wide. Sale, however, could not find any more points.
Northampton's defence held out in the final moments of the game, and despite a late change of possession, the Sharks didn't have enough to counter the Saints and suffered their first defeat in three games.
The Sharks leave Franklin's Gardens with a losing bonus point and remain fourth in the Premiership table.
See Saturday's results below:
Gloucester 14-20 Leicester
The scorers:
For Gloucester:
Tries: Carreras, Slater
Cons: Barton 2
For Leicester:
Tries: Youngs, Kelly, Wells
Con: Henry
Pen: Henry
Teams:
Gloucester: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Tom Seabrook, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Jake Morris, 10 George Barton, 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow (captain), 6 Jordy Reid, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Ed Slater, 3 Jack Stanley, 2 Santiago Socino, 1 Alex Seville.
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Alex Craig, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Henry Trinder, 23 Matt Banahan.
Leicester: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Kobus Van Wyk, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Dan Kelly, 11 Kini Murimurivalu, 10 Zack Henry, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Cyle Brink, 5 Calum Green, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs (captain), 1 Luan de Bruin.
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Nephi Leatigaga, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Tomás Lavanini, 20 Ollie Chessum, 21 Jack Van Poortvliet, 22 Johnny McPhillips, 23 Guy Porter.
Referee: Adam Leal
Assistant referees: Simon McConnell & Sara Cox
TMO: Geoffrey Warren
Northampton Saints 17-14 Sale Sharks
The scorers:
For Northampton Saints:
Try: Harrison
Pens: Grayson 4
For Sale Sharks:
Tries: JL Du Preez, de Jager
Cons: MacGinty 2
Teams:
Northampton: 15 George Furbank, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 James Grayson, 9 Tom James, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Lewis Ludlam (co-captain), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Alex Moon, 3 Ehren Painter, 2 Reece Marshall, 1 Alex Waller (co-captain).
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 JJ Tonks, 21 Henry Taylor, 22 Rory Hutchinson, 23 Harry Mallinder.
Sale Sharks: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Byron McGuigan, 13 Sam James, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Arron Reed, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Francois de Klerk, 8 Dan Du Preez, 7 Jono Ross (captain), 6 Jean-Luc Du Preez, 5 Lodewyk de Jager, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Armand van der Merwe, 1 Ross Harrison.
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Raffi Quirke, 22 Robert Du Preez, 23 Tom Roebuck.
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Mike Hudson & Jonathan Healy
TMO: David Grashoff
Exeter Chiefs 21-20 Harlequins
The scorers:
For Exeter Chiefs:
Tries: Townsend, Williams, Ewers
Cons: J Simmonds 3
For Harlequins:
Tries: Care, Baldwin
Cons: Smith 2
Pens: Smith 2
Teams:
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Facundo Cordero, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Tom Hendrickson, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 Joe Simmonds (captain), 9 Stu Townsend, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Jannes Kirsten, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jack Innard, 1 Alec Hepburn.
Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Marcus Street, 19 Sean Lonsdale, 20 Richard Capstick, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Harvey Skinner, 23 Ollie Devoto.
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Tyrone Green, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Alex Dombrandt, 7 Will Evans, 6 James Chisholm, 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Santiago Garcia Botta, 18 Will Collier, 19 Glen Young, 20 Tom Lawday, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Brett Herron, 23 Luke Northmore.
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Phil Watters & Paul Dix
TMO: Luke Pearce
Newcastle Falcons 19-38 Bath
The scorers:
For Newcastle:
Tries: Davison, Penny, Penalty Try
Con: Connon
For Bath:
Tries: Dunn 2, Underhill, Mercer, Thomas, Walker
Cons: Schoeman 2, Spencer 2
Teams:
Newcastle: 15 Tom Penny, 14 Alex Tait, 13 George Wacokecoke, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Joel Hodgson, 9 Michael Young (captain), 8 Callum Chick, 7 Philip van der Walt, 6 Gary Graham, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Mark Tampin, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Trevor Davison.
Replacements: 16 Charlie Maddison, 17 Kyle Cooper, 18 Logovi’i Mulipola, 19 Sean Robinson, 20 John Hardie, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Joel Matavesi.
Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Miles Reid, 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 Josh McNally (captain), 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Juan Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Arthur Cordwell, 18 Christian Judge, 19 Tom Ellis, 20 Ethan Staddon, 21 Ollie Fox, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Semesa Rokoduguni.
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Peter Allan & Wayne Falla
TMO: Trevor Fisher.