London Irish vs Northampton match report: Sinning Saints see Irish seal first win

London Irish 25 Northampton Saints 23

London Irish's Brendan McKibbon leaps for joy after sealing their first victory of the season (Getty Images)

A first Premiership win of the season at the seventh attempt lifted London Irish off the foot of the table and made it an embarrassing afternoon for fifth-placed Northampton, for whom the England hooker Dylan Hartley made a solid comeback after seven weeks out through concussion.

Irish were fuelled by the midfield charges of their England Under-20 squad centre Johnny Williams and a fired-up pack that eked a winning penalty try out of the Northampton pack three minutes from the end.

Northampton had gone 230 minutes without a try before Ken Pisi went over shortly before half-time, and that helped them flip a deficit of 15-3 into a lead of 23-18 early in the final quarter. Teimana Harrison caught a London Irish overthrow and the scrum-half Kahn Fotuali’i touched down near the posts, and that followed a first club try in nine months from the Wales wing George North, who chased a sharp short-side box-kick by Fotuali’i.

Irish had led with a try from a line-out by Luke Narraway and a brilliant team effort finished by Sean Maitland. They also held firm without conceding points when Asaeli Tikoirotuma was in the sin bin for tip-tacking Ben Foden.

The outcome eventually hinged on a bold sequence of line-outs taken in preference to goal kicks. Brendan McKibbin, the Scottish-born scrum-half, chose both good options and bad as Irish pressed for the line and the referee Ian Tempest – in only his 11th Premiership match – sent Jamie Gibson to the sin bin to punish Northampton’s collective infringements. Saints chose not to augment their remaining seven forwards in the scrum, and backpedalled at such a rate that Tempest awarded a penalty try. Shane Geraghty chipped the conversion over and Irish made sure of victory when Blair Cowan charged down a dropped-goal attempt by Steve Myler.

There were no complaints from Saints’ director of rugby Jim Mallinder, who revealed that the club’s England tighthead prop Kieran Brookes had undergone knee cartilage surgery and may not be fit for the start of the Six Nations Championship in early February.

Mallinder’s London Irish counterpart, Tom Coventry, was quietly happy to have nudged Newcastle Falcons down into the dreaded relegation position, albeit with two thirds of the league campaign to go.

“Teams have been able to roll us over in tight situations,” Coventry said. “We haven’t had the backbone we needed.”

With Gloucester, Newcastle, Sale and Worcester as their next four league opponents, Irish may fancy improving their position further.

Teams

London Irish: S Maitland; A Lewington, C Hearn, J Williams, A Tikoirotuma (sin bin 69); C Noakes (S Geraghty, 61), B McKibbin; T Court (T Smallbone, 78), D Paice, B Franks (H Aulika, 65), M Symons (capt), W Lloyd (J Sinclair, 58), L Narraway (J Trayfoot, 58), B Cowan, O Treviranus.

Northampton: B Foden; K Pisi, G Pisi, L Burrell (JJ Hanrahan, 58), G North (T Collins, 62); S Myler, K Fotuali’i (L Dickson, 69); E Waller (A Waller, 58), D Hartley (capt; M Haywood, 61), P Hill (G Denman, 61), M Paterson (S Dickinson,58), C Day (V Matfield, 66), C Lawes, J Gibson (sin bin 77), T Harrison.

Referee: I Tempest (Liverpool).