Northampton launch title defence with dominant win over Newcastle
Reigning Premiership champions Northampton Saints beat a heavily changed Newcastle Red Bulls side 59-26 at Franklin's Gardens, with James Pater and Tommy Freeman both scoring hat-tricks.
Northampton Saints opened their defence of the English Premiership title with a commanding 59-26 win over Newcastle Red Bulls at Franklin's Gardens.
Just three months after clinching their second Premiership title against Exeter Chiefs, Saints dominated a much-changed Newcastle side that brought in 25 new players over the summer. Northampton crossed the line nine times in total.
James Pater and Tommy Freeman each scored hat-tricks, with further tries from George Hendy, Alex Coles and Ollie Sleightholme. Fly-half Fin Smith orchestrated the performance superbly.
Match summary
Pater scored twice inside the opening 15 minutes as Northampton controlled the first half, with Hendy, Freeman and Coles also crossing before the break. Newcastle responded with two converted tries from Christian Wade, including one brilliant end-to-end score that briefly levelled the match.
Newcastle's cause was hampered by two yellow cards - one for Harrison Obatoyinbo for a trip, and another for Pouri Rakete-Stones for a dangerous tackle near the try line. Those setbacks allowed Saints to pull further ahead in the second half.
Henry Pollock stood out throughout the match, delivering a strong performance shortly after agreeing a new £400,000 contract extension.
Freeman completed his hat-trick with two second-half tries, sandwiched around a try from Newcastle's Cam Jordan, scoring his first since joining from Gloucester in the summer. Sleightholme scored moments after coming on as a substitute, while Pater rounded off the scoring with his third try late on.
Newcastle added a late consolation try through Werner Kok, securing a losing bonus point as they aim to avoid finishing bottom of the league for the first time in five seasons.
