Pountney settles brutal dispute

Northampton 34 Wasps

Wayne Smith, Northampton saints Head coach had demanded his side "do the simple things well, and at pace" and they heeded his words to such effect that his counterpart for Wasps, Warren Gatland admitted afterwards that they had been "smashed up front, had lost the collisions and failed to give Robert Howley the good service he needed".

Partly this was due to the Saints back row led by the excellent Andy Blowers stealing, disrupting and spoiling Wasps ball frequently but also to Wasps' own error count, forcing unrealistic passes in the tackle or not committing enough bodies to the break-down.

Saints were chided and cajoled superbly by Matt Dawson, delivering a surfeit of quick ball for the backs to launch attacks against an ill-formed defence.

The pace was unrelenting and made mistakes inevitable although the issue that both coaches discussed with referee Tony Spreadbury as he left the field of play for half-time concerned a replacement for a line-out after hooker Steve Thompson had been sin-binned with, and for fighting with, Darren Molloy. It was one of those matches, fractious, heated and thoroughly entertaining, a drama added to by the coaches jabbing their fingers at the official. The rugby itself was equally passionate.

Oriol Ripol was a firecracker going forward, while Josh Lewsey was more direct, but equally effective. Lewsey pulled off one desperate and brilliant cover tackle to keep Wasps in the game, and his try in the 55th minute even gave them hope at 21-13, a hope thwarted by Mark Denney being sin-binned for obstructing Ripol as he chased a John Leslie grubber kick.

His absence resulted in two successful penalties for Paul Grayson. Indeed if Grayson had kicked well the game would have been won earlier as he had missed two penalties and a conversion in the first half. Instead Saints lead was due to their forward dominance and a missed tackle by Denney. Already a third-minute penalty to the good, Ripol evaded a clumsy effort by the Wasps centre and gifted Jon Sleightholme a run-in while Mark Connors benefited from quickly recycled ball.

This was the hallmark of their play, they cleared the rucks and mauls out and got the ball in the hands of the backs before Wasps were able to reorganise.

Their final try, the one that sealed the victory was awarded to Steve Williams but was a fitting end for the forwards' effort during the entire match. They completed the hard work that allowed the backs to rampage forward and they rumbled over to complete the win.

Northampton: O Ripol; J Sleightholme, P Jorgensen, J Leslie, B Cohen; P Grayson, M Dawson; T Smith, S Thompson, R Morris (M Stewart, 57), S Williams, M Connors, A Blowers (J Phillips, 80), B Pountney, M Soden (G Seely, 73).

Wasps: P Sampson (K Logan 40); S Rosier, S Abbott, M Denney (M van Gisbergen, 70), J Lewsey; A King, R Howley; C Dowd (D Molloy, 14), P Greening (B Gotting, 70), W Green, S Shaw, R Birkett (J Beardshaw, 70), J Worsley, P Volley, L Dallaglio.

Referee: T Spreadbury (Bristol).