Northampton Saints fought their way back to beat Glasgow 24-15 in their opening Heineken Cup match at Franklins Gardens on Sunday.

Northampton clawed back 15 unanswered points to defeat Glasgow in Pool 4 after the Scottish team had roared into a 15-point lead thanks to tries by Josh Strauss and Sean Lamont, Peter Horne nailing a penalty and conversion.

But Saints' stand-out Samoan centre George Pisi hit back with two tries, one converted by Stephen Myler, to make it 15-12 to the visitors at the break.

Myler then crossed for a try minutes after the break and Russian winger Vasily Artemyev also touched down to ensure a bonus-point victory for Northampton, European champions back in 2000.

"We were under a bit of pressure, but what was pleasing was the way we came back and kept our composure. In the second half, we controlled the game," said Saints coach Jim Mallinder.

"I think we are in decent shape. When we are on top of our game we are a hard side to beat, and we need to keep at that intensity every single week."

Final Score Northampton 24 (12) Glasgow 15 (15)

Scorers

Northampton Saints
Tries: Pisi 2, Myler, Artemyev
Conversions: Myler, Lamb

Glasgow
Tries: Strauss, Lamont
Penalties: Horne
Conversions: Horne

Referee: Romain Poite (France)

Teams

Northampton: 15 James Wilson, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Dom Waldouck, 11 Vasily Artemyev, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Rhys Oakley, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Phil Dowson, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Samu Manoa, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.

Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Paul Doran Jones, 19 Mark Sorenson, 20 GJ Van Velze, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Tom May.

Glasgow: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Peter Horne, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 John Barclay, 6 Josh Strauss, 5 Al Kellock (c), 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Mike Cusack, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Ryan Grant.

Replacements: 16 Finlay Gillies, 17 Ofa Fainga'anuku, 18 Gordon Reid, 19 Tom Ryder, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 James Eddie, 22 Niko Matawalu, 23 Peter Murchie.