PAUL REES SEES PLENTY OF HIGHLIGHTS BUT WARNS THE GAME MUST SHOW IT CAN PAY FOR ITSELF

Northampton’s first Premiership title for 10 years was a reward for the way they came together as a team, blending enterprise with effort to such effect that they topped both the carries chart and the tackle count for the season, but they looked an outside bet after the opening two rounds.
They lost their first match at Sale and, more surprisingly, were beaten at home by Bristol the following week. It left them seventh in the table, one place above Newcastle, their next opponents in what turned out to be...