Northampton Saints buoyed by young prop Ehran Painter’s cameo after dealing Leicester ‘kick in the balls’

If Northampton fans take one memory into the upcoming summer break from what has been utterly disastrous season so far it should be the 16-minute cameo performance of 20-year-old substitute prop Ehren Painter on Saturday.

The 20-year-old former Felsted School student, and recent addition to Saints’ senior Academy squad, may have played less than a quarter of truly extraordinary east-midlands derby but his impact was such that he may as well have played all 80 minutes.

Two hugely important scrums, one in defence and one in attack, were completely dominated by Saints’ pack with the young Painter on the field, while a 77th-minute turnover penalty won close to the visitors’ line averted what looked a certain try after Matt Toomoa’s pass to Luke Hamilton had gone awry.

As second appearances in a first-team shirt go, Painter’s really was something special. Playing with the assurance of a 30-year-old, the powerfully built front-row helped Saints claim their first victory at Welford Road in 11 years while restoring some pride following last Saturday’s nine-try humiliation at home to Saracens.

Saints may still lie 10th in Aviva Premiership table following a demoralising season which has seen the club part company with long-serving director of rugby Jim Mallinder amid much bloodletting, but back-to-back wins over their arch rivals still provides summer bragging rights in the east midlands rugby hotbed.

Painter will surely be a player to build their pack around in the future and the scrum-penalty he helped earn with five minutes left on the clock enabled Stephen Myler to kick an all-important penalty to give the visitors a critical six-point buffer. The primal scream he released afterwards hinted at a player with fire in his belly.

“He loves scrummaging and you saw the joy on his face with that penalty,” said Saints stand-in coach Alan Dickens. “That’s one of the main reason he loves the game. He enjoys that confrontation.”

With Hurricanes head coach Chris Boyd set to take over at the start of next season, Northampton’s players know they are being closely monitored as this most disappointing of seasons draws to a close. Saturday’s completely unexpected victory, in front of more than 25,000 in a pulsating east midlands derby, at least gives reason to believe the entire playing squad should not be shown the exit door over the summer. Quality remains, while the young talent around the club was evidenced by Painter’s late contribution.

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The only negative for Saints was the head injury suffered by captain Rob Horne, who was taken to hospital after 12 seconds having suffered a concussion but remained in hospital on Sunday night after it emerged he sustained a potentially serious arm injury in the same incident.

“It’s a long time since we’ve won twice against Leicester in the same season,” said Saints flanker Jamie Gibson. “There are not many better experiences than winning at Welford Road. We had a couple of young players come off the bench who’ve not played a lot of rugby came on and made a massive difference and showed what it meant for them.”

Leicester were left ruing an ill-disciplined display which saw them concede six attacking penalties while their scrum and line-out was disjointed and underpowered for much of the game. The shock defeat saw them drop out of the play-off spots into fifth in the table, although with third-placed Newcastle and sixth-placed Sale still to play, their destiny remains in their own hands.

Director of rugby Matt O’Connor bemoaned the Television Match Official Sean Davey’s decision to disallow Jonah Holmes late try when he spotted a clear crossing line by another Tigers replacement George Worth.

O’Connor raged at what he believed was overly fussy officiating but replays showed it was the correct call as Worth took out his Saints opposite number Luther Burrell allowing Holmes a clear run to the try-line.

Toomoa, who enjoyed an excellent all-round game apart from the ill-directed pass late on to Hamilton, perhaps summed the afternoon up best for the home side. “We didn’t see that coming,” he said. “It feels like a real kick in the balls.”