Northampton are many observers’ idea of the Guinness Premiership’s dark horses this season, but they were made to work exceedingly hard at Franklin’s Gardens to ensure their season started with a win yesterday.
Despite dominating a second half in which Worcester Warriors failed to score and never looked likely to do so, Northampton could not take advantage of their superiority until two minutes from time, when the visiting team’s defence was finally breached. They did so only once Willie Walker, the Worcester fly half, had been sent to the sin-bin with Paul Diggin, the wing, scooting in.
The contrast between the styles of the teams could not have been more marked. Northampton have pace, enthusiasm and a desire to play the game at speed, with backs such as Diggin, Ben Foden and Shane Geraghty. Occasionally, they played it too loose, allowing mistakes to creep into their game that better sides than Worcester would punish, but their sense of adventure should be applauded. And once the team gel, Geraghty settles in, Euan Murray returns from injury towards the end of the year and Jim Mallinder, the director of rugby, decides on his best side, they should prosper. Geraghty started at inside centre, but when Stephen Myler twisted an ankle he moved to fly half. From there he kicked two penalty goals as Worcester started to feel the strain.
As expected, Mike Ruddock’s side, who are tipped for another season of struggle, were dogged in defence. They were content to try to slow down the game, nullify Northampton’s pace and their work at the breakdown was terrific. But, it will be a long and bruising campaign if they have to rely on their traditional virtues of a strong set-piece and committed defence.
One of their two tries came from an interception but, had either of Walker’s two penalty attempts in the second half gone over — one hit an upright and the other drifted wide — Worcester would be celebrating at least a draw. But when Northampton’s forwards finally appreciated that they should move the ball out rather than bludgeon their way through, the winning score was inevitable.
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“It was a nervous performance by us,” Mallinder said. “There are a lot of areas we can work on. We like to play good rugby with threats from everywhere. But you have to give Worcester credit. They were streetwise.”
“Losing a player [Watson to the sin-bin] was crucial and they capitalised on it,” Ruddock, the Worcester director of rugby, said. “I was proud of my players, they were fantastic.”
Northampton trailed 17-7 at half-time as Worcester made the most of their few scoring opportunities. Worcester had been slow to get into the game but the arrival of Tevita Taumoepeau, a replacement at prop for Olivier Sourgens after 12 minutes, brought solidity to their scrum, which had the squeeze on Northampton for the rest of the game.
In the first quarter, Northampton’s frippery was almost punished when Marcel Garvey intercepted but could not quite get his pass away to Chris Latham. They were not so fortunate when Greg King, one of nine players in the side to have come through the academy at Sixways, plucked out an attempted chip from Myler and fed Alex Grove. Miles Benjamin’s timely arrival ensured the try. Walker converted, then added a penalty goal as Worcester’s confidence grew, and Diggin’s wild pass put his side under pressure.
Worse was to follow. Northampton were unable to resist a driven maul and subsequent ruck from which Kai Hortsmann scored, with Walker again converting. Having lost a lineout on halfway, however, Worcester were stretched and several pick-and-drives produced a gap for Phil Dowson, the Northampton No 6, to exploit on his debut after arriving from Newcastle Falcons, a score confirmed by the television match official.
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Myler converted and despite then missing a long-range penalty, the seeds of recovery had been sown.
Scorers: Northampton: Tries: Dowson (36min), Diggin (78). Conversions: Myler, Geraghty. Penalty goals: Geraghty 2 (60, 64). Worcester Warriors: Tries: Benjamin (17), Horstmann (30). Conversions: Walker 2. Penalty goal: Walker (21).
Scoring sequence (Northampton first): 0-7, 0-10, 0-17, 7-17 (half-time), 10-17, 13-17, 20-17.
Northampton: B Foden; P Diggin, J Clarke, S Geraghty, B Reihana; S Myler (rep: J Downey, 52), L Dickson; S Tonga’uiha, D Hartley, S Boronino (rep: R Dreyer, 31), C Lawes (rep: I Fern?ndez Lobbe, 67), J Kruger, P Dowson, N Best (rep: S Gray, 61), R Wilson.
Worcester Warriors: C Latham; M Garvey, A Grove, G King, M Benjamin; W Walker (sin-bin, 73), R Powell; M Mullan (rep: A Black, 64), A Lutui, O Sourgens (rep: T Taumoepeau, 12), G Rawlinson, C Gillies (rep: G Kitchener, 60), T Wood, P Sanderson, K Hortsmann.
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Referee: C White.
Attendance: 12,073.