Inspirational Dylan Hartley lead Northampton to bonus-point win over Exeter
The England hooker was everywhere on the pitch in both attack and defence to make sure his side secured the five points and go fourth in the table.
Strong of their 24-19 win at Gloucester last week, Northampton arrived at their home ground with the intention of making it two from two and their pack helped them do just that.
With relentless carrying around the breakdown and a powerful scrum and lineout, they dominated most of the game but handling errors in the backline and a poor kicking display from both Ryan Lamb and Stephen Myler prevented them from taking control of the game.
Exeter, who thumped Sale 43-6 at Sandy Park last week, put on a trademark solid performance and showed they didn’t need much of the ball to score points and push the home side all the way.
But, just like Saints, they weren’t helped by their fly-half Ignacio Mieres whom poor kicking and passing stopped the Chiefs going forward when they needed it most.
The home side saw their early domination rewarded when Ben Foden caught an aimless clearance kick from Mieres and linked up with Russian winger Vasily Artemeyev to launch a superb counter attack and see Christian Day dive over a couple of phases later.
Phil Dowson extended the lead soon after following a break from Lamb through the middle to put Saints 12-0 in front after 25 minutes.
But Saints slightly took their foot off the pedal and Exeter came back into the game when Josh Tatupu brushed Artemeyev away to send centre Phil Dollman under the post for a brilliant try on the half hour mark.
From then, the momentum somehow went the Chiefs’ way and Mieres kicked two penalties to put the Chiefs 13-12 in front at the break, the second one coming on the back of a yellow card for Saints’ No.8 Gerrit-Jan van Velze for a spear tackle on Will Chudley.
Mieres added three points with another penalty but Northampton managed to put some good phases together to see replacement centre Luther Burrell score in the left corner and give his side a one-point lead.
Northampton were back on top and the bonus point came when Hartley rounded up his man-of-the-match performance by crashing over from a five-metre lineout.
Stephen Myler added the extras to take the lead to 24-16 and seal the win.
But the Chiefs dug deep to collect a deserved losing-bonus point through winger Matt Jess in the last minute of the game.
For Northampton:
Tries: Day, Dowson, Burell, Hartley
Cons: Lamb, Myler
For Exeter:
Tries: Dollman, Jess
Cons: Mieres
Pens: Mieres 3
Northampton: Foden; K. Pisi, G.Pisi, Waldouck, Artemeyev; Lamb, Dickson; Tonga’uiha, Hartley, Mujati; Manoa, Day; Dowson, Wood, Van Velze.
Replacements: Haywood, Waller, Mercey, Sorenson, Oakley, Roberts, Myler, Burrell.
Exeter: Arscott; Tatupu, Whitten, Dollman, Jess; Mieres, Chudley; Sturgess, Whitehead, Mitchell; Hayes, Muldowney; Johnson, Scaysbrook, Baxter.
Replacements: Alcott, Moon, Budgen, Hanks, Phillips, Barrett, Steenson, Naqelevuki.
Man of the Match: Dylan Hartley – Northampton Saints
Referee: JP Doyle
