Premiership: Northampton 40-17 Leicester - Saints equal record for league win over Tigers

George Hendy went over after Leicester had been reduced to 14 men

Northampton equalled their biggest-ever Premiership win over East Midlands rivals Leicester as they beat the 14-man Tigers 40-17 at Franklin's Gardens.

Saints led 18-17 with an hour gone in an intriguing derby, before Solomone Kata was sent off for a head-on-head hit on Fraser Dingwall.

With the extra man Saints blew Tigers away with three unanswered tries to all-but secure a play-off spot.

The loss loss means Leicester's hopes of a top four finish hang by a thread.

They are three points off the top four having played a game more than their rivals while Saints know they will have a five-point lead at the top of the table come the end of the weekend.

Northampton's defence did well to repel Tigers twice when they were in striking distance of their line in the opening 10 minutes.

But when the hosts had Elliot Millar-Mills sin-binned for a head-on-head tackle Tigers struck as they kicked the resulting penalty to the corner, and Julian Montoya was mauled over from the line-out.

Solomone Kata faces a ban that could end his season after being sent off

George Furbank and Handre Pollard traded penalties before Saints' first proper foray into Tigers territory saw Alex Mitchell held up the 28th minute after sustained pressure on the visitors' line.

A second Furbank penalty moved Saints closer before Tigers' Jasper Wiese was yellow-carded five minutes from the break and Tom Litchfield knocked the ball on under the posts as Saints again went close.

But the hosts flew out of the blocks in the second half as hooker Curtis Langdon galloped down the left flank like a winger after James Ramm's pass for their first try, to put them 11-10 ahead.

It got better for the hosts four minutes later as Jamie Shillcock's deliberate knock-on saw Saints extend their lead to eight points and the full-back go to the sin-bin.

But Tigers closed the gap to one point as Wiese crashed over from a close-range line-out after Ollie Chessum's acrobatic catch.

But the game turned after Kata's dangerous tackle on Dingwall four minutes later which saw the floodgates open.

Robbie Smith was mauled over from a close-range line-out before Fin Smith superbly set fellow replacement Tommy Freeman free and he teed up George Hendy to go over.

Tom James completed the rout as he pounced after Phil Cokanasiga spilled a kick through before Smith knocked over a late drop-goal.

Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson:

"You never get tired of beating Leicester. It's such a historic fixture and we knew the intensity with which they would start the game.

"It was a very turgid, slow first half and we came in at half-time a bit frustrated and a bit annoyed that we hadn't managed to do more with what we had in terms of possession.

"We managed to keep the ball for multiple phases and clearly a red card has an impact because it was 18-17 at that point and then it was one-way traffic in the last 10 to 15 minutes.

"I thought the work we did in the first half and the work we did in the first 20 minutes of the second half had put them into a place where we could exert control.

"We got on top of them and the card obviously has an impact. That's just the way life is."

Leicester head coach Dan McKellar:

"Ultimately, discipline and execution in the attacking 22 killed us.

"Sometimes it's just a matter of doing the obvious and putting your winger in the corner and at this level, you've got to be able to do that against quality teams.

"To play nearly 40 minutes against a team of Northampton's quality with 14 men, it's tough.

"We were really slow out of the blocks in the second half but we got back to 18-17 and were well and truly in the game, but again discipline hurt us and a penalty try and yellow card put us down to 14.

"We got the red card and against a team that's playing with that confidence and momentum, they have at the moment. It's tough to defend and we ran out of legs."

Northampton: Ramm; Hendy, Litchfield, Dingwall, Seabrook; Furbank, Mitchell; Waller, Langdon, Millar Mills, Moon, Mayanavanua, Coles, Ludlam (capt), Augustus

Replacements: Smith, Haffar, Davison, Lockett, Graham, James, Smith, Freeman

Sin-bin: Millar-Mills (9), Hendy (71)

Leicester: Shillcock; Steward, Kelly, Kata, Hassell-Collins; Pollard, van Poortvliet; Cronin, Montoya, Cole, Wells, Chessum, Carnduff, Reffell, Wiese

Replacements: Clare, van Wyk, Hurd, Hatherell, Cracknell, Youngs, Cokanasiga, Brown

Sin-bin: Wiese (36), Shillcock (47)

Sent off: Kata (60)

Referee: Christophe Ridley

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