Van Poortvliet stars as Leicester dominate Saints

Jack van Van Poortvliet showed his class, dictating play throughout and scoring a magnificent solo try

Gallagher Premiership

Northampton Saints (0) 0

Leicester Tigers (23) 33

Tries: Radwan, Van Poortvliet, Cracknell, Clare Cons: Pollard 2 Pens: Pollard 3

Jack van Poortvliet scored the pick of three tries inside the first 13 minutes as Leicester Tigers stormed to victory over bitter East Midlands rivals Northampton Saints at Franklin's Gardens.

Adam Radwan steamed over in the corner for the first score following a slick move after four minutes.

The second try arrived through a breathtaking solo effort by England international scrum-half Van Poortvliet, who raced more than half the length of the field and then collected his own crafty kick to cross.

Saints had their chances, they had three tries disallowed, but were uncharacteristically poor in defence and sloppy with ball in hand. They never looked like staging a comeback, which could have prevented Tigers moving up to third in the Premiership table.

Ollie Cracknell added a third score from close range, and the boot of Handre Pollard ensured a 23-0 half-time lead for the visitors.

A relatively uneventful second period played out with three points for Tigers, via a Pollard penalty, until more sloppy defensive play from the home side gifted Charlie Clare a routine score under the posts to secure Leicester a bonus point.

Eight weeks on from the last Premiership match as the league took a break for the Six Nations, the English top flight returned with a weekend of derby games.

But while Tigers started like they had never been away, Saints were below par from the moment they squandered a simple close-range chance, setting the tone for a half littered with handling errors - they made an alarming 26 - and missed tackles.

Tigers made their rivals pay immediately, with a delightful backs move that ended with Pollard feeding for a fine try in the corner through Radwan.

And after Van Poortvliet's stunning second try, a brilliant chip over the top and gather after a darting run from deep, Cracknell scored off the back of a maul and the first 40 minutes ended with Saints shut out in the first half at home for the first since December 2023 against Sale Sharks.

The entertainment dipped after the turnaround, but Saints remained out of sorts.

Replacement Henry Pollock, fresh from two-try England debut against Wales, did almost get Saints on the board with an electric burst, only to be held up just before the line.

Clare's try summed up a forgettable night for the hosts - securing what could be a valuable bonus point as Tigers saw out a whitewash victory.

Meanwhile, defending champions Northampton are eighth, but their chances of making the top four look slim with six games left.

Northampton Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson told BBC Radio Northampton:

"We didn't see that coming. We felt we were in a good space this week, had a good energy in training, but in the first half we were blown away.

"We started really well. Our first play, we hit the wrong line and we actually should have scored. That would have settled us and got us back into a routine, but from then on we were very fragmented and it was one-way traffic.

"We coughed the ball up a lot, with a lot of errors, a lot of turnovers, and no field position. We looked like we were almost trying too hard. It was a bit scattergun.

"It's something we're going to have to consider, reflect on and work out why we did look a bit shell-shocked."

Leicester Tigers head coach Michael Cheika told BBC Radio Leicester:

"I feel good, obviously. We played some good footie in the first half. We probably weren't as efficient with the ball in the second half but we defended well.

"I worked hard to make sure that when the players came back after the Six Nations they were ready in mindset and body - and technically as well.

"We haven't been too bad defensively but we have given away some scores I didn't like, so I was really pleased with that part of the game.

"It was a good day today, we had good shape and we executed our basic skills. We gave them opportunities in the second half, but we stayed in it defensively and managed to get that fourth try, which could be very important."

Northampton: Hendy; Ramm, Seabrook, Dingwall (capt), Hutchinson; F Smith, James; Iyogun, C Langdon, Davison, Mayanavanua, Lockett, Kemeny, Pearson, Augustus.

Replacements: Walker, Haffar, Green, Coles, Munga, Pollock, Weimann, Odendaal.

Leicester: Steward; Radwan, Kata, Woodward, Hassell-Collins; Pollard, van Poortvliet, N Smith; Montoya (capt), Heyes, Henderson, Wells, Liebenberg, Reffell, Cracknell.

Replacements: Clarke, Whitcombe, Cole, Joussain, Ilione, Youngs, Volavola, Perese.

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe.