Premiership: Dan Biggar helps Northampton to 29-10 win over Worcester

Northampton and Worcester started the day as the two bottom sides in the Premiership

Wales stand-off Dan Biggar scored 12 points as Northampton Saints beat Worcester Warriors to claim their first Premiership home victory of 2020.

Fit-again Biggar's key try, on top of two conversions and a penalty, inspired the Saints' deserved bonus-point win.

Worcester trailed 17-7 at the break after two home scores - from Alex Mitchell and a penalty try.

But Warriors could not add to Billy Searle's first-half try as Biggar and Mikey Haywood both crossed for Saints.

Warriors' only score of the second half was a Searle penalty, conceded when Biggar killed a highly promising attack to earn himself 10 minutes in the sin-bin.

That was the second yellow card of the game following Melani Nanai's first-half exit for Worcester. And it was the visiting full-back's return to action and an evening up of the numbers again that helped earn Warriors their one try just three minutes later for stand-off Searle.

But, other than Searle's second-half penalty, once Biggar had returned to the field, there was no way back for Worcester as the Welsh general, who made his first Saints appearance of the season in the European Champions Cup defeat by Bordeaux-Begles, before missing the trip to Leinster successfully marshalled his side's first league win of the new campaign at the sixth attempt.

It was actually Northampton's first of a bizarre year in the Premiership at Franklin's Gardens - at their final attempt in 2020, having lost all eight of their previous home league games since beating Gloucester 33-26 364 days ago.

Having started the day bottom of the table, it helped the Saints leapfrog Warriors, whose fifth straight defeat in both competitions - Premiership and European Challenge Cup - sends them to the foot of the early season table.

Northampton Saints director of rugby Chris Boyd told BBC Radio Northampton:

"We're delighted to get that monkey off the back. It's been a barren time for us here at the Gardens. It's been hard to play here without the place pumping.

"But we probably played better against Leinster last week and also against Bordeaux the week before, but it was just against better opposition.

"You need your big players to step up at big times. It's reward for us but one swallow does not make a summer. We've got to keep climbing."

Worcester director of rugby Alan Solomons told BBC Hereford & Worcester:

"We didn't get what we deserved. That scoreline was absolutely no reflection of the game. Off the top of my head I can think of five attacking opportunities we didn't close out. You get big busts, you've got to close them out.

"The good part is that we are creating those chances. And the spirit in this squad is good too.

"It's fine margins, small errors, little things, but the boys are well coached and are working hard and eventually we'll come through."

Northampton Saints: Furbank; Proctor, Dingwall, Hutchinson, Tuala; Biggar, Mitchell; Waller (co-capt), Matavesi, Hill; Ribbans, Isiekwe; Lawes, Ludlam (co-capt), Harrison

Replacements: Haywood, Van Wyk, Franks, Moon, Adendorff, James, Collins, Naiyaravoro.

Sin-bin: Biggar (47).

Worcester Warriors: Nanai; Humphreys, Lawrence, Beck, David; Searle, Hougaard; Waller, Annett, Schonert; Clegg, A Kitchener; Hill (capt), Mama, Du Preez.

Replacements: Cutting, Thomas, Palframan, Batley, Lewis, Simpson, Weir, O Morris.

Sin-bin: Nanai (13).

Referee: Christophe Ridley.

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