Saints’ scrum put Wasps to the sword

Northampton remains unbeaten and go top of the table with a convincing 24-6 win over London Wasps at Franklin’s Gardens.
The Saints’ pack put on a superb second half display in the scrum to starve Wasps from possession and clinch the win but a lack of intent towards the end to go for the try-bonus points could be bemoaned by Jim Malinder.
The home side also controlled the first half well, scoring points at almost every opportunity when in Wasps’ half but should have led by more if Stephen Myler had his kicking boots on.
Meanwhile, Wasps had a good first half playing a lot with the ball in hand but couldn’t break Northampton’s defensive line led by a storming Courtney Lawes at blindside.
Unforced errors prevented them from scoring while soft penalties helped Saints taking the lead early.
They couldn’t put their hands on the ball in the second half and, when they did, the scrum struggled to hand the ball back to the Saints too easily.
The London-side put some phases together early but, on Saints’ first true attacking ball, Ken Pisi bursted through the line to set up Jamie Wilson and take a 5-0 lead.
Myler extended the lead with a penalty before Wasps finally got on the board with a penalty from Nick Robinson.
The game turned sour for Wasps as winger James Bailey went off with a broken leg but they reacted well to earn a second penalty and close the gap.
Myler added two more penalties for Saints to lead 14-6 at the break.
Back from the break, Saints put huge pressure on Wasps who managed to hold on for 15 minutes but they eventually had to see Wilson go over for his second try of the game.
Wasps never gave up but weren’t helped by their scrum and Myler sealed it with 10 minutes to go.
Northampton: Wilson; Pisi, Waldouck, Burrell, Artemyev; Myler, Dickson; Tonga’uiha, Hartley, Doran-Jones; Manoa, Day; Lawes, Wood, Oakley.
Replacements: Haywood, Waller, Mujati, Sorenson, Dowson, Roberts, Lamb, May.
London Wasps: T. Bell; Wade, Masi, C. Bell, Bailey; Robinson, Simpson; Payne, Lindsay, Taulafo; Palmer, Wentzel; Launchbury, Haskell, Vunipola.
Replacements: R. Thomas, McIntyre, Staibano, Jones, Cannon, Davies, L. Thomas, Daly.
Referee: Dave Pearson
Attendance: 12,955
Star man: Jamie Wilson – Northampton