Saints make winning return

Northampton made a winning start to life back in the Guinness Premiership with a 21-13 victory over Worcester at Franklin's Gardens.

They secured their victory thanks to second-half tries from Dylan Hartley and Jon Clarke, although their afternoon could have been easier if captain Bruce Reihana had been more prolific with the boot.

After a lively start by both teams, the hosts should have taken the lead in the 10th minute when Worcester's Netani Talei conceded a penalty for not rolling away from a tackle.

But Reihana put the relatively easy kick from 30 metres just wide of the right upright and then missed from the same distance just four minutes later after Gary Rawlinson had impeded Carlos Spencer.

The visitors almost made Saints pay soon afterwards when Rico Gear chipped ahead on the right flank but Neil Best just managed to get to the ball first with the try-line beckoning.

Visitors ahead

But they went ahead on 23 minutes when Soane Tonga'uiha came away from a scrum and Mathew Jones made no mistake with the penalty.

The hosts levelled two minutes later when Reihana finally made a successful kick after Matt Mullan had been penalised for not releasing the ball following a tackle.

But the visitors restored their three point advantage two minutes later when Paul Shields did not roll away from a tackle and Jones duly obliged with the kick.

Saints thought they had scored the first try of the game on 31 minutes when Best touched down after a period of pressure, but the referee adjudged Shields to have knocked the ball forward just before - although replays showed the decision to be harsh.

Worcester should have then gone further in front before half-time but Jones missed a penalty and the score stayed 6-3 at the break.

Second period

In the second period, Saints drew level on 48 minutes from Reihana's boot after Tom Wood was sin-binned for not releasing.

They then scored the first try on 52 minutes when Hartley, who had come off the replacements' bench for Shields, powered over after desperate Worcester defending near the line, but Reihana once again missed with the boot.

Clarke scored the Saints' second try in the right corner on 67 minutes thanks to some great passing across the park and this time Reihana added the conversion from a tight angle.

But Aleki Lutui brushed off tackles from Hartley and Chris Ashton to power over for the visitors on 73 minutes with Jones adding the extras to reduce the deficit to five points.

It could have been a nervous finale but Saints extended their advantage to eight points via a third penalty from Reihana soon afterwards.

The score remained that way for the rest of the game as the Saints marched to a deserved victory.