Biggar steers Saints to victory

MATCH REPORT: Wales flyhalf Dan Biggar started his Premiership journey in fine style as he helped Northampton Saints to a 25-18 win over Harlequins on Friday.

Biggar contributed 17 points to the side’s tally courtesy of five successful penalties and a conversion.

Meanwhile, Dylan Hartley came off the bench to score a crucial try to get their Premiership Rugby season up and running.

The England captain got his hands on the ball from a rolling maul to dot down the decisive try just before the hour as Saints held on for a nervy success, with Danny Care and James Lang both crossing for the visitors.

The first half was a tight affair with both teams threatening but neither able to convert chances into points although Marcus Smith needed to be sharp early on to get back and tackle Tom Collins when he seemed set to score.

He did the same again soon after and then gave Harlequins the lead with a straightforward penalty after a breakdown infringement.

The battle on the deck was one of the defining aspects of the first half, with Saints responding through three Biggar penalties, the last on the stroke of half-time to give the home side a 9-3 interval lead.

Northampton almost had the first try early in the second half when Harry Mallinder, on as a first-half replacement, collected a kick-through that had deflected off a Harlequins boot. He then found Cobus Reinach but the South African scrum-half was held up over the line by Elia Elia. From the resulting field position, they did at least earn a penalty which Biggar converted to make it a two-score game.

Instead, it was Harlequins who finally broke the try deadlock, Care sniping smartly after an extended period of pressure in Saints territory. Smith converted to cut the deficit to two.

That appeared to spark Saints and they earned a penalty from the restart to get back into the Harlequins 22. From there they turned to their maul and there was nothing Harlequins could do to stop Hartley. Biggar’s conversion made it 19-10.

The two flyhalves then exchanged penalties but heading into the final ten minutes, Saints still held a nine-point lead. That was soon cut to four with Lang showing his power to brush off Biggar and race over from the 22 although his conversion was just wide.

Back came Saints, with Biggar claiming a high ball to set up another penalty, Mallinder converting as the fly-half got treatment. And from there they held on, despite Harlequins piling on the huge pressure at the death in the search of a draw.

The scorers:

For Northampton Saints:
Try: Hartley
Con: Biggar
Pens: Biggar 5, Mallinder

For Harlequins
Tries: Care, Lang
Con: Smith
Pens: Smith 2

Teams:

Northampton Saints: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Tom Collins, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Heinrich Brüssow, 6 James Haskell, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Ben Franks, 2 James Fish, 1 Alex Waller (c)
Replacements: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Ehren Painter, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Jamie Gibson, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Andy Symons, 23 Harry Mallinder

Harlequins: 15 Aaron Morris, 14 Charlie Walker, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Nathan Earle, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 James Chisholm, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Archie White, 5 Ben Glynn, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Will Collier, 2 Elia Elia, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Max Crumpton, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Stan South, 20 Renaldo Bothma, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 James Lang, 23 Paul Lasike

Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant Referees: Anthony Woodthorpe & Peter Allan.
TMO: Graham Hughes.

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