Northampton bounced back well from the derby disappointment to beat Sale 47-17 in the Gallagher Premiership.
Northampton suffered a wasted defeat at Leicester last Saturday, but Ollie Slightholm was lethal against the Sharks at Franklin’s Gardens, scoring two of his seven tries.
It also means the Saints’ home winning streak will extend beyond a year, with the Saints having won 18 straight games on their own this night, and Sale will be hoping to turn things around as soon as possible.
Sharks took the lead in the second minute with a penalty from Rob du Preez, but Finn Smith’s grubber kick was missed by Sale full-back Joe Carpenter and Tommy Freeman dropped the ball to concede the goal. Northampton succeeded in winning the match.
Northampton turned the tables again in the eighth minute when Freeman charged inside Rory Hutchinson’s ball and timed a pass outside to clear captain George Furbank.
The Sharks briefly regained momentum when a driving maul led to a score from Luke Cowan-Dickie, cutting the lead to 12-10.
But the visitors’ night fell apart as Wills was sent to the sin box for taking George Hendy into the air and Northampton scored three tries in six minutes.
Firbank’s substitute James Lamb set up the first two, his long pass giving Sleightholme a walk-in before the winger’s tipped kick rebounded kindly for the Australian to clear Tom James. made possible.
That gave Saints a bonus point after 24 minutes, and their fifth try came when Tom Roebuck deflected Smith’s kick to the left to gift Slightholm his second of the game.
The hosts still had time to add one more point before halftime, when Hendy intercepted a pass from Waisea Nayakalev and ran in unopposed, making the score 40-10 at halftime.
Sale scored the first try of the second half, the forwards driving the visitors under the Northampton posts and Du Preez’s pass found Carpenter with an easy finish.
Then some great defending from Henry Pollock held down Gus Waugh and prevented the Sharks scrum-half from scoring another point, before Roebuck took a tackle into touch to deny Slightholm a hat-trick at the other end. .
Any doubts about Sale’s comeback were silenced in the 61st minute, with further loose play from the visitors allowing the now retired Lamb to slip through the gap and clear the seventh try of a successful night for Northampton.
Falcons big win
Newcastle defeated fellow strugglers Exeter 24-18 at Kingston Park to claim their first Gallagher Premiership win in over a year.
The Falcons entered Friday’s matchup without a win since March 2023, but the hard-fought victory ended their losing streak at 25.
Despite falling behind to an early Chiefs try, Newcastle hit back with two tries either side of a Philipp van der Walt try and a Jamie Blamire break.
Ethan Grayson’s second-half drop goal gave the Falcons some leeway before Josh Hodge’s late try for Exeter gave the Falcons a much-needed victory.
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