Scarlets leave Saints on the brink

NORTHAMPTON crashed to a second consecutive Heineken Cup defeat and to the brink of elimination.

The Saints would rightly question some of the refereeing decisions but the Scarlets capitalised on an error-strewn performance to move clear at the top of Pool One with a bonus-point victory.

The Scarlets, who opened their campaign with victory over Castres, looked to have the game wrapped up by half-time with tries from Liam Williams, Aaron Shingler and Matt Gilbert.

Rhys Priestland, the Wales fly-half making his first start since the World Cup, scored the bonus-point try as the Scarlets counter-attacked following a Chris Ashton knock-on. The Saints staged a late comeback to earn a losing bonus point with tries from George Pisi and Tom Wood, on top of 13 points from Ryan Lamb.

Scarlets stormed into a third-minute lead with a try from full-back Williams.

The Scarlets scrum spent most of the evening on the retreat but a strong set-piece effort set the platform for Gareth Davies to make the initial break. The scrum-half’s offload went to ground but Williams was able to kick the ball on before diving on it to give the Scarlets a perfect start.

The Welsh region dominated the early stages but the power of the Northampton scrum relieved the pressure and earned Ryan Lamb a penalty, which he converted from under the posts.

The Scarlets hit back in controversial fashion from the kick-off when referee Peter Fitzgibbon failed to spot a knock-on from Sean Lamont and Shingler scooped up the loose ball, rounded Ashton down the wing and scored. Priestland’s touchline conversion extended the lead to 14-3.

The Saints’ Heineken Cup campaign was collapsing around them. Lamb steadied the ship with two more penalties, the second after Shingler’s replacement Gilbert had pulled Lawes down at the lineout.

But the Scarlets had the final say before the interval and it came from another Saints mistake, with Foden’s replacement Pisi dropping Priestland’s kick.

George North scooped up the loose ball, his Wales colleague Jonathan Davies took it on before Gilbert twisted his way over the line for the Scarlets’ third try.

The Scarlets were reduced to 14 men when Jonathan Edwards was sin-binned for killing the ball at the ruck as Northampton pressed for a route back into the game.

But when Lamb’s penalty attempt hit the post, Ashton dropped a simple pass and once again the Scarlets profited, counter-attacking in ruthless fashion.

Priestland got his boot to the loose ball 30 metres out from the Scarlets line and North showed a great turn of pace to hunt it down and hack on again.

Priestland continued the chase, toed the ball forward for a third time and dived on it to send the boisterous travelling fans wild.

Northampton claimed their second losing bonus point of the group when Pisi scored in the left corner before Wood galloped over for a breakaway try in the final minute.

Northampton scorers: Tries: Pisi, Wood. Cons: Lamb 2. Pens: Lamb 3.

Scarlets scorers: Tries: L. Williams, Shingler, Gilbert, Priestland. Cons: Priestland 4.

NORTHAMPTON: Pisi, Ashton, Clarke, Downey, Artemyev, Lamb, Dickson, Tonga’uiha, Hartley, Mujati, Lawes, Sorenson, Clark, Wood, Wilson.

Replacements: Armstrong for Pisi (71), Roberts for Dickson (64), A. Waller for Tonga’uiha (71), Haywood for Hartley (71), Doran-Jones for Mujati (71), Manoa for Sorenson (64), Dowson for Clark (54).

SCARLETS: L Williams, North, S Williams, J Davies, Lamont, Priestland, G Davies, I Thomas, M Rees, R Thomas, Timani, Welch, Shingler, J Edwards, Morgan.

Replacements: Evans for North (77), R Williams for G Davies (74), John for I Thomas (65), Owens for M Rees (64), R Jones for R Thomas (71), Reed for Timani (64), Gilbert for Shingler (30).

Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland).