Tommy Freeman enhanced his burgeoning reputation with a stunning hat-trick as Northampton romped to the victory they required to book their place in the playoffs for the first time in three years. They racked up 10 tries against a largely dismal Newcastle who, but for a brief rally early in the second half, failed to give Dean Richards an appropriate send-off in his last match as director of rugby. For Chris Boyd, however, the show goes on and while he will also leave at the end of the campaign, Northampton’s season is far from over.
Northampton will face a sterner test when they make the short journey to face Leicester next week but they can go with optimism, having chalked up a sixth bonus-point win in their last seven league matches. When games open up like they did here there is no Premiership side more dangerous than Northampton’s great showmen, but as Boyd acknowledged afterwards, Leicester will pose an altogether different challenge.
“Our worst two performances this year have both been against Leicester,” he said. “Home and away, they were shockers. We are going to have to play a whole lot better than we have against them to challenge them. There is something to be said for youth and fearlessness. We can’t go to Welford Road and die wondering. We have to throw the kitchen sink at them.”
It helps to have a try-scorer in the kind of form Freeman is in – the 21-year-old now has seven in his last five Premiership matches – and he is already firmly on Eddie Jones’s radar. “He’s got that x-factor,” added Boyd. “If he can stay fit and strong and healthy and he’s a good student of the game, it’ll be interesting to see where he ends up.”
Northampton came into the match knowing victory would seal fourth place, regardless of Gloucester’s result against Saracens, and they were given a considerable helping hand by a Falcons side with just one league win since November. Dan Biggar was given the freedom of Franklin’s Gardens while Rory Hutchinson scythed through the Newcastle defence with an ease that will not have pleased Richards, who leaves his job after a decade at Kingston Park.
Newcastle were not helped by a second-half red card for Sean Robinson – “harsh” according to Richards – nor a mindless yellow for the second-row Greg Peterson a minute before half-time for lashing out at Lewis Ludlam and their woes were compounded when Freeman went over in the left corner for the fifth try before the interval. It was an impressive score, the ball swiftly put through the hands to release Freeman after a jinking run from Hutchinson had carved Newcastle apart.
Northampton scored their first try inside the opening 10 minutes after equally poor defence from Newcastle, the outside-centre Matías Orlando flinging a pass to no one before Sam Matavesi hacked on and splashed over the line. Biggar had already opened the scoring with a penalty and he created Northampton’s second try, putting Fraser Dingwall through a gap before the centre found Alex Coles on his shoulder to score. Matavesi had his second from a driving maul soon after and Newcastle were reeling.
Callum Chick raced home from 30 metres to get Newcastle on the board but Northampton responded with the bonus-point try, finished by Alex Mitchell after Api Ratuniyarawa had ghosted through a gap. Then came Peterson’s loss of control and Freeman’s slick finish.
Newcastle struck first after the interval when the referee, Karl Dickson, awarded a penalty try and sent Mitchell to the sin-bin and when the Falcons replacement Jamie Blamire went over from close range, Northampton were wobbling. Remarkably, they were back to within 10 points when Adam Radwan was next to cross but Hutchinson eased any Northampton nerves by going over in the corner.
Robinson hit Biggar late in the buildup and was given his marching orders, sparking chaos and two more tries for Freeman – the first a delightful move, started by Hutchinson from his own line and the second a cute kick and chase – to complete the hat-trick. Courtnall Skosan added a breakaway ninth before Ludlam flopped over on his 100th appearance for the club.
