At 7.16pm, just around the time those Sunday night blues kick in, England’s Champions Cup cohort finally had something to cheer about. It was not pretty but after seven of their Prem rivals had failed to claim victory in the opening round of the competition, Saints survived a sizeable scare from Cardiff to put one on the board for the Prem, thanks in no small part to the excellent George Hendy.
It might be harsh on some of the performances this weekend – Gloucester were immense in drawing with Bordeaux, Exeter mightily unlucky to be beaten in Toulouse – but zero wins would have been a crushing embarrassment for a league that has been feted for its attacking exploits so far this season. One out of eight is not a lot to shout about as it is.
