Another weekend, another points fest. This one topped 80, the odd try in 11 earning Northampton their second win of the season. Under Chris Boyd, the improvement in their game has been obvious; here, it yielded the full five points.
It meant Bristol’s first home loss of their return to the top flight fell at the third instalment, but they took two bonus points themselves to keep both sides nestled amid the customarily crowded mid-table.
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Ian Madigan pulled out, but his replacement, Callum Sheedy, who qualifies to play for Wales, Ireland and England, played masterfully, accruing 15 points and coaxing as much artistry from Bristol as Madigan might have done himself.
If this league is meant to be damaging England’s chances of playing the vibrant rugby so ardently wished for, the logic is hard to follow. Players looked for, and found, space and, when it was not to be found, collisions of rather more than a couple of Gs kept the purists happy.
In the end, the difference was a try, which made the one denied Bristol shortly before the break all the more controversial. With the score locked at 17-apiece, Andy Uren was through to the line. He had been tackled a few yards short, his knee touching the ground for a moment, but the question was whether he had been held by the tackler. The TMO thought not; Luke Pearce, whose opinion counted, thought so.
“I know it was a try,” said Pat Lam, the Bristol coach whose 50th birthday was spoiled here by his former club. “The TMO was right and so was the touch-judge, but Luke felt differently. I know what’s going to be said when it goes to review. It was a huge moment, because it switched from 24-17 in our favour to 24-17 the other way. But credit to Northampton.”
It was a curious decision by Pearce, who cannot have seen anything the rest of us could not. If that was harsh, a penalty seemed ridiculous, but them’s the rules. All the harsher, Northampton kicked the penalty to touch, worked a few phases and suddenly Lewis Ludlam was stepping to the line at the other end. Northampton had a lead they would not relinquish.
By then that lead had changed hands liberally. Dan Biggar had opened the scoring with a penalty, but the riot of tries was swift to ensue. Will Hurrell broke powerfully past Biggar for the first of his brace, after fine work by the increasingly eye-catching Harry Thacker. The hooker showcased his remarkable pace for Bristol’s second on the half-hour, but in between Northampton had scored twice – raw power accounting for Ehren Painter’s and the contrasting virtues of Northampton’s wingers for Andrew Kellaway’s.
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And so the match was poised perfectly before its controversial turning point. Even after that, Sheedy’s penalty reduced Bristol’s arrears to four on the stroke of half-time. Taqele Naiyaravoro, the bulldozing version of Northampton’s wingers, went through two to claim Northampton’s fourth four minutes into the second half, only for some Sheedy wizardry to lay one on for Luke Morahan four minutes later. Sheedy’s third penalty reduced the deficit to one. The game was anyone’s.
It was Northampton who made it theirs. Close-quarter power was one department in which they enjoyed the edge throughout. Alex Waller and Mikey Haywood proved as much with tries of directness either side of the hour mark. Bristol were staring at a 15-point deficit all of a sudden, this time with only quarter of an hour to go.
They scored twice in the remaining time, each try coming with a bonus point, each one a sweeping move of majesty. They were the scores of a team who know how to play, but everyone seems to know how to play this season. Someone is going to have to be relegated.