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Northampton Saints maintained their pursuit of a Premiership Rugby Cup semi-final spot following a convincing 39-19 derby victory against defending champions Leicester Tigers at Franklin’s Gardens. The result extended Northampton’s winning run at home to 16 consecutive matches across all competitions.
Seven-Try Display Powers Saints
A youthful Northampton side scored seven tries to comfortably defeat their East Midlands rivals. Wings Tom Rowe and Amena Caqusau, along with full-back James Martin, each scored two tries, while centre Toby Thame also crossed the line. The defeat leaves Leicester at the bottom of Pool B after suffering three consecutive losses in the competition.
The victory also served as retribution for Northampton, who had been heavily beaten by Leicester in a Premiership clash at Mattioli Woods Welford Road two weeks prior.
Scrum-Half Injury Concerns
Despite the decisive scoreline, Northampton faced further injury complications at scrum-half. Already missing England international Alex Mitchell and Archie McParland, Saints lost 20-year-old captain Jonny Weimann to injury in the 29th minute. Before limping off, Weimann assisted Northampton’s opening two tries, sending a long pass to Martin in the 11th minute and delivering a cross-kick for Rowe five minutes later. England Under-18s scrum-half Sonny Goode replaced Weimann off the bench to cover the position.
Northampton built a 27-7 lead by half-time after Caqusau secured the team’s bonus-point try in the 36th minute and Rowe added his second just before the interval. In the second half, Martin recorded his second try from a cross-kick in the 46th minute, and Caqusau followed with his second try after setup play from Goode while Leicester wing Adam Radwan was serving a sin-bin penalty. Leicester managed three tries in response, with hooker Sam Moli scoring twice and back-rower Osian Thomas adding another.
Sale Sharks Move Top of Pool A
In Pool A, Sale Sharks moved to the top of the standings after securing a tight 21-19 victory over Bristol Bears at the CorpAcq Stadium. Full-back Arron Reed scored two tries and Alex Wills added another to establish Sale’s advantage.
Bristol fought back with a try from Samoan hooker Totoa Auvaa—who joined the club under director of rugby Pat Lam after being dismissed by Saracens for off-field conduct—followed by two tries from Max Pepper. However, Bristol fell just short of a comeback when Sam Worsley missed a long-range penalty kick four minutes before the final whistle.
