Saints eye Heineken Cup quarter-final

Border Reivers 19 Northampton Saints 29

Northampton boosted their hopes of earning a ticket to the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup with a solid bonus-point triumph over the struggling Borders today.

The Saints now face Biarritz at Franklins Gardens next weekend in the showdown to decide who will progress as group winners.

Reivers had made a stirring start, grabbing the lead in the seventh minute thanks to a try by hooker Ross Ford, who scuttled down the narrow side after a lineout clutch from Opeta Palepoi.

The score acted as a wake-up call to the Saints, who hit back almost immediately as slick work by John Howard and Carlos Spencer created the time and space for Paul Tupai to reach the line.

Former All Blacks player Spencer converted, then banged over a penalty to give his side the momentum.

However, Borders snatched back the edge when winger Simon Danielli galloped almost 80 metres for an interception touchdown, goaled by skipper Calum MacRae.

The referee sent former Scotland team-mates Stuart Grimes and Tom Smith to the sin-bin for fighting.

MacRae was then wide with a penalty attempt, and Saints made the most of the let-off with Spencer's dazzling sidestep leading to their second try by full-back Paul Diggin. Spencer added the extras.

Any prospect of a Borders fightback was wiped out by England's Ben Cohen, who bagged two trademark touchdowns in seven minutes after the restart, the first of which was converted by Spencer.

The brave Reivers refused to throw in the towel and they rallied to set up a score for MacRae, who also supplied the accurate kick.