Gallagher Premiership powerhouses the Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints renewed their fierce rivalry over the weekend.
Emerging victorious 24 – 8, Micheal Cheika’s Tiger’s sent out a statement to the rest of the league that they are genuine title contenders once again this season.
For the defending champion Saints, the loss at Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium drops them to sixth in the ten team league with two wins and two losses.
Dominating from the off, the Tigers lead for 98% of the match with the performance being built a rock solid effort in defence with a 90% tackle completion rate.
As ever with this fierce rivalry, there were a few moments which have caught the ire of the respective fan bases.
Saints Enforcer
One moment which is now doing the rounds online is an attempted try saving intervention from Saints’ replacement Gavin Thornbury.
Joining the Saints this offseason, the former Leinster and Connacht player was brought in as a physical enforcer for the high flying Saints.
Getting his timing slightly off with an attempt on Tigers’ fullback Freddie Stewart as he dove for the try line.
But this late cheap shot doesn’t get checked at all 🤔 pic.twitter.com/j2quxQC6v5
— Ryan (@R_Oakes10) October 12, 2024
Ill Discipline
Whilst Thornbury avoided any sanction, there were four yellow cards brandished in the match with both teams receiving two. For the Tigers, flyhalf Handre Pollard and backrow Tommy Reffell were sent to the bin.
On the other side, the Saints saw hooker Curtis Langdon and replacement backrow Tom Pearson given their marching order.
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