London Irish shock Northampton Saints

London Irish earned their first win of the Aviva Premiership Rugby season by pulling off one of the shocks of the season and beating Northampton Saints 25-23 at the Madesjki Stadium.

Irish came into this game with no points to their name, but started the game well with two first half tries from Luke Narroway and Sean Maitland.

Chris Noakes also kicked five points for the home side. Jim Mallinder’s side scored a try of their own through Ken Pisi, with Stephen Myler kicking three points.

The second half was all Northampton. They scored two tries through George North and Kahn Fotuali’i, with Myler kicking five points.

But, Irish snatched victory with five points from Noakes and a dramatic penalty try secured a terrific win for Tom Coventry’s men.

Despite playing a Northampton side who have only lost one of their last six games, it was Irish who opened the scoring with a try from Narraway after a driving maul.

And it was the Premiership’s bottom side who looked the better throughout the first quarter. But, the away side slowly worked their way back into the game, with a Myler penalty reducing the deficit to just two points.

Unfazed by the Saints pressure, Irish re-established their five point lead with a Noakes penalty cancelling out Myler’s earlier effort.

London Irish continued to assert themselves on the game and grabbed their second try through Maitland after a beautiful pass from Noakes.

After a fairly lacklustre half by their own standards, Northampton ended the half on a high with a try from Pisi; their first try in over four hours of game time.

Northampton continued to pressurise after the break and score their second try of the match when North crossed the line just after half time.

Irish kept themselves in the lead with another penalty from Noakes, but Northampton stayed within touching distance with a Myler penalty from under the posts.

Saints finally took the lead with their third try from scrum-half Fotuali’i who powered his way over the whitewash after a period of pressure from Northampton.

The situation got worse for Irish when Aseli Tikoirotuma was shown yellow for a dangerous tackle on Ben Foden.

A tense final few minutes were ensured when Jamie Gibson was shown yellow for Northampton after sustained pressure from London Irish.

The extra man was made to count when Irish were awarded a penalty try for a collapsed scrum with two minutes to go, giving them a dramatic 25-23 win.

Final Score London Irish 25 (15) Northampton Saints 23 (8)

Scorers

London Irish
Tries: Narraway, Maitland, Penalty try
Cons: Noakes, Geraghty
Pens: Noakes 2
Yellow card: Tikoirotuma

Northampton
Tries: K Pisi, North, Fotuali’i
Con: Myler
Pens: Myler 2
Yellow card: Gibson

Match Officials
Referee : Ian Tempest (11th Premiership game).
Assistant referees : Ashley Rowden & Gareth Copsey.
TMO: David Sainsbury

Teams

London Irish

15. Sean Maitland; 14. Alex Lewington; 13. Ciaran Hearn; 12. Johnny Williams; 11. Aseli Tikoirotuma; 10. Chris Noakes; 9. Brendan McKibbin; 1. Tom Court; 2. David Paice; 3. Ben Franks; 4. Matt Symons (captain); Will Lloyd; 6. Luke Narraway; Blair Cowan; Ofisa Treviranus

Replacements: 16. Jimmy Stevens; 17. Tom Smallbone; 18. Halani Aulika; 19. Jebb Sinclair; 20. Joe Trayfoot; 21. Scott Steele; 22. Shane Geraghty; 23. Fergus Mulchrone

Northampton

15 Ben Foden, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 George North, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Kahn Fotuali’i, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Christian Day, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Ethan Waller

Replacements: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Victor Matfield, 20 Sam Dickinson, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 JJ Harrahan, 23 Tom Collins