Ashton stays on the scent of Saints' last-eight ambitions
Northampton 30 Treviso 18
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Northampton have long been one of England's go-ahead clubs – even during an unwanted season in the second division, they were busy building a better squad and bigger stadium – so rather than ignore supporters' requests for information, the programme for this match dwelled on a possible home Heineken Cup quarter-final being staged away from Franklin's Gardens. There is much to negotiate before thinking of the last eight, and the Saints must get the required results from trips to Treviso on Saturday and Munster in late January, with Perpignan at the Gardens – which is 1400 seats short of the minimum capacity for a quarter-final – between now and then.
Just the first of those tussles with the champion sides of their respective leagues will not be easy, judging by the way Treviso's tight forwards performed in the first of the back-to-back meetings. "Treviso showed why you can't treat anybody as a whipping team," said Saints second-rower Christian Day, who knows his Euro onions after a stint with Stade Français. "They played a good kicking game and we didn't respond to that well enough. We worked hard, got quicker ball at the start of the second half and we showed our class."
A charge-down try by Benjamin Vermaak helped Treviso into a 13-3 lead after 35 minutes, but four rapid-fire Northampton tries, including two by Chris Ashton, flipped the scoreline on its head to 27-13 before the third quarter was out. The pacy Ashton's unique selling point is a bloodhound's nose for following the ball, even when it takes him into unorthodox positions. Already, you wonder if that makes him an England wing in waiting, or just the type of player the national side won't pick.
"When we play fast and through the middle and get our forwards running round the corner, we are a match for all sides," said Jim Mallinder, Northampton's director of rugby. "We just need to play like that for 80 minutes."
Scorers: Northampton: Tries Ashton 2, Foden, Ansbro; Conversions Geraghty 2; Penalties Geraghty, Myler. Treviso: Tries Vermaak, Goosen; Conversion Botes; Drop-goal Goosen 2.
Northampton: B Foden; C Ashton, J Clarke, J Downey (S Myler, 64), J Ansbro (C Mayor, 67); S Geraghty, L Dickson (A Dickens, 64); S Tonga'uiha (B Mujati, 67), D Hartley (capt, B Sharman, 71), E Murray (S Bonorino, 54), C Lawes, C Day (J Kruger, 54), P Dowson, N Best (S Gray, 64), R Wilson.
Treviso: L McLean; A Vilk, A Sbargi, G Garcia (F Waters, 55), T Botes; M Goosen, F Semenzato (S Picone, 57); M Rizzo (A Allori, 40), L Ghiraldini (D Vidal, 40), I Fernandez Rouyet (Rizzo, 57), A Pavanello (capt; E Pavanello, 57), C van Zyl, B Vermaak, A Zanni, D Kingi.
Referee: P Gauzere (France)
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments