Saints secure top spot but will need help from Tigers
N'hampton…50pts
Tries: Foden 6, 28, Gibson 17, Paterson 39,
Mallinder 43, Pisi 49, Fish 56, 80
Conversions: Myler 17, 28, 43, 49, 80
Scarlets……10pts
Tries: Williams 12
Conversions: McBryde 12
Penalties: McBryde 3
NORTHAMPTON kept their semi-finals hopes alive with a bonuspoint, eight-try win over a youthful but fearless Scarlets outfit on Friday night.
Ben Foden, captaining Saints in the absence of England men Tom Wood and Dylan Hartley, helped himself to a first-half trydouble while Jamie Gibson and Michael Paterson secured the try bonus-point before the interval with one apiece.
Harry Mallinder, Ken Pisi and James Fish, with a brace, finished the job in the second half to send them top of Pool 1 but they will have to cheer on Leicester today and hope the already-qualified Tigers can prevent Saracens from picking up more than two match-points at Allianz Park.
Already out of the running for the last four, Scarlets picked a young side having been depleted by internationals call-ups at senior and U20s level. They also chose to rest a further 24 players to prepare for the next week's PRO12 clash in Glasgow.
They showed plenty of endeavour and started well with a try from Tom Williams and Billy McBryde kicking the conversion to go with an earlier penalty. Thereafter their lack of experience and power showed.
Saints star man Mallinder said: “We're really pleased with the performance, especially after losing to Leicester last week.
“We had a few things to put right and I thought we did that. We came out of the blocks and to score 50 points is great.
“Scarlets made it hard with their strong set piece and they made a lot of good breaks. We've got to wait on the Saracens and Leicester result now before going back into the Premiership against Bath next week which will be a huge challenge.”
A penalty from McBryde gave the Welsh region an early lead but Saints responded in style with two driving mauls setting the platform for Foden to score in the opposite corner.
A brilliant run from Williams to score put Scarlets ahead again but it was all Saints after that.
They regained the lead with Stephen Myler converting Gibson's try and the fly-half again used his boot to perfection soon after with a cross-kick sending Foden over for his second.
There was still time for one more first-half try and Saints had the bonus-point they were after when Paterson went over from a powerful driving maul.
Mallinder kicked things off in the second half by picking a carving line through midfield to score under the posts, while Pisi's try put the game to bed with 30 minutes left.
Rain and substitutions disrupted the rhythm of the game but Northampton still reached the half century with two tries from replacement hooker Fish from two driving mauls.
Scarlets fly-half McBryde said: “We're really proud with how we performed. We knew it was going to be a physical test and our set piece did well. It's a shame we couldn't turn it into points and Northampton's experience told in the end.”
TEAMS
NORTHAMPTON: Tuala 6; K Pisi 7, Tuitavake 7, Mallinder 8 (Hutchinson 56, 6), Foden 7; Myler 7, Groom 7 (Dickson 56, 6); E Waller 6 (A Waller 59, 6), Haywood 7 (Fish 50, 7), Brookes 6 (Hill 50, 6); Paterson 7, C Day 6 (Craig 59, 6); Gibson 7, Ludlam 6, Dickinson 6 (Ribbans 56, 6)
Not used: Estelles
SCARLETS: D Jones 6; Williams 7 (A Evans 65, 6), Smith 6, R Jones 6 (Maynard 56, 6), Griffiths 6; McBryde 7, Lloyd 6 (Cole 68, 6); Robinson 5 (Fawcett 44, 7), Hughes 5 (Myhill 60, 6), Sebastian 8 (Watkins 71, 6); Helps 6, Bernardo 6 (P Day 56, 6); Phillips 7, S Evans 6 (Condy 51, 6), Allen 6
REFEREE: Craig Mawell-Keys
ATTENDANCE: 13,177
Star man
Harry Mallinder – Northampton
