Northampton beat Leicester 39-19 to keep Prem Rugby Cup hopes alive

Northampton kept their Prem Rugby Cup semi-final hopes alive with a 39-19 victory over holders Leicester at Franklin’s Gardens. BBC Sport reported that the young Saints side scored seven tries in the East Midlands derby, extending their winning sequence at home to 16 matches across all competitions. Leicester’s third successive defeat in the competition left them bottom of Pool B.

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Tom Rowe, Amena Caqusau and James Martin each scored twice for Northampton, with centre Toby Thame providing their other try. The result followed Saints’ defeat by Leicester in a Premiership meeting at Mattioli Woods Welford Road two weeks earlier. This time, Northampton built a 27-7 half-time lead and went on to secure a decisive cup victory against their local rivals.

Scrum-half Jonny Weimann helped establish that advantage before his evening ended early. The 20-year-old, captaining Northampton for the match, set up Martin’s opening try with a long pass in the 11th minute. Five minutes later, his cross-kick created Rowe’s first score. Weimann then limped off in the 29th minute, adding to Northampton’s concerns at a position where Alex Mitchell and Archie McParland were already injured.

England Under-18s scrum-half Sonny Goode came off the bench as Saints continued to build their lead. Caqusau’s finish in the 36th minute secured Northampton’s try bonus point, and Rowe completed his double just before the interval. Alongside Thame’s contribution, those scores gave the hosts a 20-point cushion at half-time, leaving Leicester with a substantial deficit to overturn after the break.

Martin scored his second try from a cross-kick in the 46th minute. Caqusau later added another following approach work by Goode while Leicester wing Adam Radwan was in the sin-bin. The visitors finished with three tries of their own, two through hooker Sam Moli and one from back-row forward Osian Thomas, but could not prevent another cup defeat.

Elsewhere in the competition, Sale Sharks moved to the top of Pool A by beating Bristol Bears 21-19. Arron Reed scored twice and Alex Wills once for Sale, while Bristol’s tries came from Totoa Auvaa and Max Pepper, who crossed twice. Sam Worsley had an opportunity to put Bristol ahead with four minutes remaining, but his long-range penalty attempt fell short.