Premiership: Northampton 17-14 Sale - Saints hang on to edge out Sharks

Number eight Teimana Harrison got Northampton's try to help claim their first win in three games

Northampton Saints somehow hung on to see off Sale Sharks for a narrow Premiership win at Franklin's Gardens.

Having led 8-0 at half-time, with a try from Teimana Harrison and a James Grayson penalty, Saints stretched that.

Sale responded to two more Grayson penalties with a Jean-Luc du Preez try converted by AJ MacGinty.

Grayson then kicked a fourth penalty before Lood de Jager got over, also improved by MacGinty to make it 17-14 - but Sale could not find any more.

Northampton's defence held out to hand Sale a first defeat in three games.

They picked up only a losing bonus point after suffering just their second defeat by Saints in their last eight meetings.

Despite being down to 14 men, after Ollie Sleightholme was sin-binned following several infringements, Saints went ahead with the first of Grayson's four penalties.

Harrison, who had been out for over two months with hand and groin troubles, then scored on his return to put Saints 8-0 up.

Two more Grayson penalties followed before Du Preez broke away from a powerful driving maul to stretch over, allowing MacGinty to add the conversion.

Grayson stretched Saints over a score clear again with his fourth penalty, before lock De Jager's converted try off a rolling maul set up a breathless finish.

But, although Sale went through countless phases on the final play, Tom Wood's interception allowed Henry Taylor to boot the ball off the pitch and secure victory.

Both sides now have a break until next Sunday, when Saints host Bristol and Sale are scheduled to entertain London Irish.

Northampton director of rugby Chris Boyd:

"Part of our game plan was to keep the ball on the field and move their big fellas around and they didn't want to kick it out, either, which created a lot of that aerial ping-pong that I don't particularly enjoy.

"But, at the end of the day, it was the right tactic for us to play. We came in with a plan that was a little more rigid than we'd normally take into a game and executed it reasonably well.

"We were on the wrong end of four or five penalties that were hairline decisions, but we needed to realise that particular referee was going to be fairly blasty to start with and we had to quietly adapt."

Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson:

"We lost that game in the first 20 minutes. We had the lion's share of the territory and possession and we didn't capitalise on that, through a lack of composure and a lack of accuracy.

"A lot of the big stuff we got right, such as the field position and the physicality, but you've got to be more accurate against any team, let alone a team like Northampton.

"I just said to the lads that if you get the big things right, if you get the effort right, if you get the physicality then you're always pushing, you're always competing. But it's the little things that put the game away and it's the little things today that let us down."

Northampton Saints: Furbank; Freeman, Dingwall, Francis, Sleightholme; Grayson, James; Waller (co-capt), Marshall, Painter, Moon, Coles, Wood, Ludlam (co-capt), Harrison.

Replacements: Haywood, Auteracy, Hill, Ratuniyarawa, Tonks, Taylor, Hutchinson, Mallinder.

Sin-bin: Sleightholme (10)

Sale Sharks: Hammersley; McGuigan, S James, Hill, Reed; MacGinty, De Klerk; Harrison, Van der Merwe, John, Wiese, De Jager, JL du Preez, Ross (capt), D du Preez.

Replacements: Langdon, Rodd, Oosthuizen, Beaumont, Dugdale, Quirke, R du Preez, Roebuck.

Referee: Matthew Carley.

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