Saints have to work hard for home comforts as Chiefs make life difficult

It was not a convincing performance from the Saints as they let a 12-0 lead slip away to trail 13-12 at the interval, but second-half tries from Luther Burrell and Dylan Hartley eventually saw them home.

“Our performance was a mixed bag,” Mallinder said.

“We were good in the first 20 minutes scoring two good tries but then we relaxed, kicked loosely and going down to 14 men put us under some considerable pressure.

“However we kept our cool in the first 10 minutes of the second half and then our forwards went on to dominate.”

Northampton would have won more comfortably had Ryan Lamb not been off form with his goal kicking, and the outside half was substituted for Stephen Myler early in the second half.

Mallinder said: “We have two good No 10s; Lamb missed a couple of kicks as their kicker did.

“Stephen is a steady head and controlled the game when he came on and had a big hand in our crucial try.”

The Saints coach also paid tribute to captain Hartley, who was man of the match after picking up his second try in as many fixtures.

“Dylan stands out with his attitude; he doesn’t have a sloppy session he is always the first there and the hardest there,” he said.

Hartley himself was happy to get past a stubborn Exeter side.

“We knew Exeter are a good team and that they play for the full 80 minutes,” said the England international.

“Last week against Gloucester we got a bit loose and were lucky to come away with a win. (Yesterday) when it got tough we returned to the driving maul and hammered home our advantage.”

Exeter coach Rob Baxter was able to take many positives from the defeat, with Phil Dollman and Matt Jess both dotting down to run their hosts close.

“I am pretty pleased,” he said. “On the two previous occasions here we have been comfortably defeated.

“Last season we lost 33-3 but (yesterday) we were in the lead at half-time and were competitive to the end.

“It was by far our best performance here and we made it very edgy for Northampton right up until the end.”

Bath and England centre Matt Banahan is to have a scan on his knee after being forced off during the West Country club’s 
30-23 win over Wasps.

The three-quarter limped off during the closing stages as Bath made it two wins from two at the start of the new season, punishing Wasps for a series of costly errors.

Banahan left the Rec in a brace, and Bath skills coach Brad Davis admits it will be a waiting game to determine the severity of the problem.

He said: “Matt has damaged his knee and we will know more about it in the next 48 hours, he will go to have a scan and we will wait and see what the results are, but he has been put in a brace.”

Head coach Toby Booth added: “All injuries are a worry. The people who are near the top of the table at the end of the season are the sides whose players stay fit and healthy, giving them more firepower at their disposal.

“We have a few dents in the squad already but we will have Sam Vesty, Stephen Donald and Tom Heathcote to come back soon.”

Banahan had earlier run in Bath’s first try of the afternoon, handing off a weak tackle from Elliot Daly on his way.

Further scores followed from wings Tom Biggs and Kyle Eastmond, the latter scoring his first try since joining the club from 
St Helens with Olly Barkley adding 15 points with the boot.

Two penalties by Nicky Robinson had kept Wasps in it at the break and Tom Varndell and Christian Wade crossed in the second half for the visitors.

England centre Manu Tuilagi produced a fabulous two-try performance as Leicester Tigers chalked up their second successive bonus point win season with a 34-26 victory over Worcester Warriors at Welford Road.

They scored five tries altogether, the others coming from Fiji winger Vereniki Goneva, lock Graham Kitchener and a penalty try. Winger David Lemi and centre Alex Grove scored Worcester’s tries with former England fly-half Andy Goode kicking 16 points.

Fly-half Freddie Burns kicked 25 points and created the try which swung the match out of nothing as Gloucester recorded their first win of the season, defeating London Irish 40-31.

England No 8 Ben Morgan, with his first try for his new club, winger James Simpson-Daniel and replacement flanker Akapusi Qera, touched down for Gloucester with Burns landing seven penalties and two conversions.

Right-wing Topsy Ojo scored the Exiles’ opening try with Ireland scrum-half Tomas O’Leary and replacement prop Halani Aulika marking their home debuts with tries. Fly-half Steven Shingler kicked four penalties and two conversions for a 16-point haul.

Charlie Hodgson again returned to haunt Sale, whose first Premiership game at their new Salford City Stadium home ended in a 23-16 defeat.

Last season, Hodgson kicked his new side to victory with 20 points at Edgeley Park, and the Halifax-born fly-half landed 18 points on this occasion.