By Ben Grundy
Tommy Freeman shone at centre, and showcased his back line versatility to Steve Borthwick, as Northampton Saints redeemed themselves with a seven-try win over Sale Sharks at the cinch Stadium.
Freeman, who is usually utilised by England and Northampton on the wing, was a crucial stand out at outside centre in the win against Sale. A series of grubber kicks, chip and chases and cross-field kicks from fly-half Fin Smith and his backline booted the home side into a 30-point bonus win over their northern opposition on Friday night.
Director of Rugby Phil Dowson was happy with his side’s ‘really good’ performance and said: “Today via the bounce of the ball and a strike of luck we converted pretty much everything in the first half. Obviously frustrating from a coaching point of view with the second half. We never really got any rhythm, we never really put our game on the pitch and we allowed them to get back into it which is frustrating but on the whole really pleased.”
Northampton kept up their streak of conceding points early, this time from the kicking tee as Rob du Preez opened his account in the second minute after Saints failed to release at the breakdown, handing the opening three point score to Sale.
A beautiful grubber kick from Fin Smith in the fourth minute allowed Freeman to evade Joe Carpenter and dot down for Northampton’s first try of the evening, to the left of the posts. Smith’s conversion attempt crashed against the post, keeping the score at 5-3.
Tommy Freeman slipped away from the clutches of Sam Bedlow in the 9th minute, offloading to Captain George Furbank to go over for his side’s second, Smith this time having no issue with the conversion to extend the led to 12-3.
Sale’s infamous brutality showed in the 13th minute after Luke Cowan-Dickie crashed over from a rolling maul five metres out, the Sharks’ fly-half converting the score, and narrowing down the deficit to just two points.
After taking out George Hendy in the air, Sale were reduced to 14 for ten minutes after Alex Wills was sin-binned by referee Karl Dickson in the 19th minute. It didn’t take long for the home side to capitalise on the one-man advantage as Ollie Sleightholme went in on the left flank two minutes later assisted by blood replacement James Ramm, Smith converting made the score 24-10.
Phil Dowson’s men had their bonus point score on the 24th after James Ramm’s chip and chase was too much for Sale to handle and the Australian got his second assist of the night, setting up the returning Tom James to score with Smith adding the extras.
Saints’ kicking game earned them their fifth try of the evening and Sleightholme’s second in just 27 minutes after two cross-field kicks from fly-half Fin Smith. The latter was misjudged by Tom Roebuck, giving the English winger the freedom to dot down under the posts, Smith adding the extra two, for a 33-10 lead.
A handling error from Waisea Nayacalevu handed George Hendy a try on his return. The winger ran in from 40 metres out and dived under the posts in front of the Barwell Stand, Smith again had no issues with the conversion. Pure domination from the home side then saw them go into the break with a 30-point advantage.
Sale’s second half started optimistically, scoring in the 45th. Joe Carpenter found the space in a three versus two and dotted down for the Sharks’ second, converted by Rob du Preez.
Handling errors cost Sale once again, this time Rob du Preez allowed James Ramm to take advantage of a dropped pass to dive in unopposed in the 61st minute in front of the Cinch Stand, Smith converted successfully.
A more relaxed 20 minutes followed with Saints and Sale sharing possession but finding no joy with the scoreboard. A night of kicking excellence from the home side was fittingly ended by another Sale handling error. Full-time Northampton Saints 47 -17 Sale Sharks.
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS: 47
Tries: 7 (Freeman 4’ Furbank 9’ Sleightholme 21’ 27’ James 24’ Hendy 37’ Ramm 61’)
Conversions: Smith 6 (9’ 21’ 24’ 27’ 37’ 61’)
Drop goals: 0
Yellow Cards: 0
Red Cards: 0
Northampton Saints: 15 George Furbank (c), 14 George Hendy, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Tom James; 1 Emmanuel Iyogun, 2 Robbie Smith, 3 Trevor Davison, 4 Gavin Thornbury, 5 Chunya Munga, 6 Angus Scott-Young, 7 Tom Pearson, 8 Henry Pollock
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Josh Kemeny, 21 Archie McParland, 22 Tom Litchfield, 23 James Ramm
SALE SHARKS: 17
Tries: 2 (Cowan-Dickie 13’, Carpenter 45’)
Conversions: 2 du Preez (13’, 45’)
Drop goals: 0
Yellow Cards: 1 (Alex Wills)
Red Cards: 0
Sale Sharks: 15. Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Waisea Nayacalevu, 12. Sam Bedlow, 11. Alex Wills, 10. Rob du Preez, 9. Gus Warr; 1. Si McIntyre, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 4. Ernst van Rhyn, 5. Hyron Andrews, 6. Tom Curry, 7. Ben Curry ©, 8. Dan du Preez.
Replacements: 16. Ethan Caine, 17. Tumy Onasanya, 18. James Harper, 19. Ben Bamber, 20. Sam Dugdale, 21. Nye Thomas, 22. Tom Curtis, 23. Luke James.
5 Talking Points: Northampton Saints 47 – 17 Sale Sharks
1. Tommy Freeman shines at the Gardens – Playing at 13, Tommy Freeman took only four minutes to get on the scoresheet and continued to shine throughout the full 80 minutes. The Oxford-born back showed why he should definitely be in Steve Borthwick’s squad however, raised questions on which number shirt he is best wearing.
Speaking on the ability of Freeman, Dowson said: “I think he is adapted to all positions such as full-back, wing, 13 today and the more you get on the ball the better. He got some space today and he showed what a capable player he is.
“Steve (Borthwick) has some great decisions to make in that space (outside centre). Henry Slade is one of the best in the league and I think he is back fit. He (Borthwick) has decisions to make on how he balances that up, but I’d be surprised if Freeman is not in the mix somewhere.”
Tommy Freeman said: “With injuries and the way it goes, I was happy to be in the midfield, I like playing there and, on the wing, and I am comfortable in both (positions).
“If I can carry on putting big performances in like that, I can up my chances of getting in there (England’s team).”
2. Saints kicking game too much to handle for Sale – The home side’s kicking prowess showed throughout the game and earned them three tries thanks to the boot of Fin Smith and James Ramm. A collation of grubber kicks, chip and chases and cross-field kicks were too much for the Sharks to handle and allowed Northampton to ease their way to a bonus point inside the first half an hour.
3. Sale’s handling errors cost them heavily – On a mostly dry East Midlands evening, the northern outfit really let themselves down with the ball in hand. Costing them in crucial attacking areas was a secondary concern as both Tom Roebuck and Waisea Nayacalevu handed Saints tries on a plate, allowing for Ollie Sleightholme and George Hendy to run in unopposed.
Sale’s Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson said: “I am taking (the blame) off the boys. We didn’t focus on the right things in the week, and we had a lack of physicality in defence.
“Our execution in attack was as poor as it has been, and it has been good in the last three weeks at least. There is a directness when we are at our best which we take pride in but I think we got the mentality wrong today, so I am taking the blame on that one and taking it off them (the players).”
4. Saints injury list extends further with Robbie Smith injured – Northampton hooker Robbie Smith was withdrawn from the game inside the first five minutes, departing the pitch to a standing ovation on a stretcher.
Phil Dowson said: “(The issue was) Robbie’s knee. He felt something straight away that wasn’t particularly good so we are waiting obviously to know more about it but it looks quite serious.”
5. Youngster Henry Pollock impresses again – The number eight impressed in Leicestershire and certainly made an impression in front of his home fans. His sensational last-ditch tackle denied Gus Warr a try in front of the Barwell Stand and his work at the breakdown was equally impressive, earning Saints a series of penalties for the Sharks holding on in the ruck.
The Saints’ boss reflected on his performance and his last-ditch tackle: “I think that (the tackle) will probably give him some momentum. He made a shocking read so he had to make that hold-up to get back in there. I think that shows his desperation within there (Saints’ defence). We were on the back foot a lot and that was a concern.”
