Northampton 17-25 Gloucester: Player Ratings as Cherry & Whites shock the Saints
12/02/2024 05:12 AM
By Tom Harrington
Gloucester put an end to Northampton Saints' home win streak despite heavy second-half pressure from the hosts. The Cherry and Whites first-half efforts got them over the finish line, only a Santi Carreras penalty on the score sheet. Ollie Sleightholme was unable to keep his score streak underway as two of his tries were chalked off.
Gloucester took only two minutes to open the scoring, Santi Carreras punishing the champions for not clearing their lines. The Cherry and White's lead did not last long as Saints captain George Furbank finished off his own tap kick, a smart decision with the advantage in his pocket. Rory Hutchinson added the conversion with Fin Smith undergoing a HIA.
Gloucester stunned the Franklin's Gardens crowd with a 22-7 half-time lead, Carreras clutching a brace and an intercept score from Zach Mercer. However it would be Northampton to strike the first second-half blow, Juarno Augustus going low to the paint on Gloucester's try-line. Ovations around the gardens as Alex Mitchell returned to play after missing six rounds of the Premiership and the Autumn Nations Series.
The home support thought their comeback was in full flow but the TMO denied Ollie Sleightholme a ninth try in the Premiership this season. Tensions at the scrum boil over, Saints not able to convert their attacking threats. A second try denial for Saints as Mitchell's pass in the build-up is deemed forward.
The continued pressure nearly earned Sleightholme a returning try but was once again denied in the corner, losing grip of the ball. Rory Hutchinson elected to kick to the posts however his efforts were cancelled out by Carreras giving the travelling team an eight-point lead. With the clock in the red, Northampton had the opportunity for a losing bonus point yet Hutchinson's kick soared too far right of the posts, full-time 17-25.
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS: 17
Tries: 2 (Furbank 4', Augustus 47')
Conversions: 2 (Hutchinson 5' 48')
Penalties: 1 (Hutchinson 74')
Yellow Cards: 0
Red Cards: 0
Drop Goals: 0
STARTING XV: 15 George Furbank 14 George Hendy 13 Tom Litchfield 12 Rory Hutchinson 11 Ollie Sleightholme 10 Fin Smith 9 Tom James 1 Tom West 2 Curtis Langdon 3 Trevor Davison 4 Chunya Munga 5 Alex Coles 6 Angus Scott-Young 7 Tom Pearson 8 Juarno Augustus
Replacements: 16 Craig Wright 17 Emmanuel Iyogun 18 Luke Green 19 Tom Lockett 20 Henry Pollock 21 Alex Mitchell 22 Fraser Dingwall 23 James Ramm
GLOUCESTER RUGBY: 25
Tries: 3 (Carreras 2', 31' Mercer 23')
Conversions: 2 (Carreras 23', 32')
Penalties: 2 (Carreras 40', 78')
Yellow Cards: 1 (Blake 57')
Red Cards: 0
Drop Goals: 0
STARTING XV: 15 Santi Carreras 14 Christian Wade 13 Max Llewellyn 12 Seb Atkinson 11 Ollie Thorley 10 Gareth Anscombe 9 Caolan Englefield 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin 2 Jack Singleton 3 Afo Fasogbon 4 Arthur Clark 5 Freddie Thomas 6 Jack Clement 7 Lewis Ludlow © 8 Zach Mercer
Replacements: 16 Seb Blake 17 Ciaran Knight 18 Kirill Gotovtsev 19 Matias Alemanno 20 Ruan Ackermann 21 Charlie Chapman 22 Chris Harris 23 Josh Hathaway
Northampton Saints Player Ratings:
15 George Furbank 7
Stepped into the fly-half position due to Fin Smith's injury situation, clever kick and gather to finish for his try.
14 George Hendy 6.5
Good attacking presence, brought off early on and failed his head injury assessment.
13 Tom Litchfield 6.5
12 Rory Hutchinson 7
Kicked all of Northampton's points, put Saints onto the attacking front foot.
11 Ollie Sleightholme 7
Denied two tries both due to Sleightholme dropping the ball, good attacking presence on the wing.
10 Fin Smith 6
Came off very early on for a head injury assessment and could only see out of one eye, not allowed to return to the field.
9 Tom James 7
Good kicking and attacking presence unlucky not to assist or score himself.
1 Tom West 6
Penalised multiple times at the scrum and breakdown.
2 Curtis Langdon 6
Apart on the front row penalised at the scrum had some good presence on Gloucester try-line.
3 Trevor Davison 6
Penalised multiple times at the scrum and breakdown.
4 Chunya Munga 6
Good in defensive efforts but no aerial threat.
5 Alex Coles 6.5
Aerial threat in lineouts and had a decent attacking presence
6 Angus Scott-Young 6
Good work rate in every aspect no real on-field presence.
7 Tom Pearson 6.5
Attacking presence especially coming away from lineouts.
8 Juarno Augustus 6.5
Good under high balls and utilised well as a battering ram. Good vision to spot the gap for his try.
16 Craig Wright 6
17 Emmanuel Iyogun 6
18 Luke Green 6
19 Tom Lockett 6
20 Henry Pollock 6
21 Alex Mitchell 7.5
22 Fraser Dingwall 7
23 James Ramm 7
Gloucester Player Ratings
15 Santi Carreras 8.5
Two tries to his name, only missing one kick during the match. Made most of Gloucester's attacking game.
14 Christian Wade 8
Assisted one Carreras' tries by quickstepping past Ollie Sleightholme. Great attacking and defensive presence on the wing.
13 Max Llewellyn 7
Strong centre partnership, providing tough to break defence in the middle of the park.
12 Seb Atkinson 7
Strong centre partnership, providing tough to break defence in the middle of the park.
11 Ollie Thorley 6.5
Quiet night for Thorley as most of the traffic was going down the other wing.
10 Gareth Anscombe 7
Good line breaks used as a centre, brought off early on.
9 Caolan Englefield 7.5
Set Gloucester on to the front foot however misplaced box kicks throughout the game.
1 Val Rapava-Ruskin 7
Strong scrummage until substituted off early in second half.
2 Jack Singleton 7
Strong scrummage and performance after coming back on due to yellow card.
3 Afo Fasogbon 7
Strong scrummage until substituted off early in second half.
4 Arthur Clark
Dominant in the air during lineouts, good line breaks.
5 Freddie Thomas 7.5
Made the intercept to set up Zach Mercer for his try and was dominant in the air from lineouts.
6 Jack Clement
Strong running and line breaks combined with good scrummaging.
7 Lewis Ludlow
Another Gloucester back row who dominated the game physically with strong running and line breaks combined with good scrummaging.
8 Zach Mercer 8
Strong attacking presence continuously getting around the Saints defensive line and creating attack opportunities.
16 Seb Blake 6.5
17 Ciaran Knight 7
18 Kirill Gotovtsev 7
19 Matias Alemanno 7
20 Ruan Ackermann 7
21 Charlie Chapman 7
22 Chris Harris 7
23 Josh Hathaway 7
TALKING POINTS: NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 17 – 25 GLOUCESTER RUGBY
Gloucester head coach George Skivington reflects on his teams attitude and desire – "I'm really pleased the dog in us and the fight particularly in the second half, we played 16/17 minutes with 14 men, with Zach (Mercer) going off and us already emptying the bench and Seb (Blake) going to the bin, I thought the attitude to shut the best attacking team in the league out arguably was the most promising bit."
Skivington on last season's 90-0 defeat at the gardens – Gloucester got their revenge after being humiliated 90-0 last season but the wounds still lie deep, Gloucester director George Skivington said: "I'll never forget that game, I think that's one where winning doesn't cancel it out last year happened and it was painful but from our point of view we're a different team this year."
Dowson on Saints' first half – The champions conceded 22 points in the first half ultimately enough for them to lose the game, Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson said: "It's hugely frustrating there's obviously some tactical things that we weren't quite at the races. Emotionally we weren't in the right place and Gloucester came here all guns blazing and had a point to prove."
Fin Smith HIA – Smith came off inside ten minutes for a HIA and never returned to the field, the home supporters believing he had failed it, Phil Dowson said: "Fin Smith passed his HIA but he couldn't see out of one of his eyes, so he got a knee to the eye, no problem with the HIA but with the blurred vision he couldn't continue."
Alex Mitchell returns to the Premiership – After being injured before their pre-season friendly against Bedford Blues, the scrum-half came on in the second half and started Northampton attempted comeback, Dowson said: "Alex Mitchell's input was excellent to be away for that long to be able to come back and play so well with such an impact, he was excellent."
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