Northampton secured the only English victory in the opening round of the Champions Cup with a 28-12 win over Cardiff at Franklin’s Gardens. The Saints, who reached the quarter-finals last season, scored four tries to clinch the win in a Pool Four match played under tricky conditions.
James Pater and Toby Thame put Northampton 14-0 up by half-time with tries that reflected their resilience in the wet. Cardiff fought back in the second half through Harri Millard and Mason Grady, narrowing the gap to just two points with 20 minutes remaining. But George Hendy and Fraser Dingwall sealed the win for Northampton, who started their Champions Cup campaign strongly despite missing out on a bonus point.
The home side’s success ended a difficult opening weekend for English clubs in Europe’s top-tier tournament. Gloucester managed a draw against reigning champions Bordeaux-Begles, but six other Premiership sides lost their opening matches.
Cardiff’s return to the Champions Cup after two seasons in the Challenge Cup came with challenges. The Welsh team had only five days to prepare after a United Rugby Championship fixture against the Sharks and rested several key players. They did, however, give first appearances of the season to Wales and British & Irish Lions internationals Taulupe Faletau and Josh Adams, both returning from injury.
Northampton also rotated their squad ahead of a Premiership match against Leicester on Saturday but maintained enough quality to control the game. Pater opened the scoring with a well-timed supporting run, and Thame powered over for a second try after 20 minutes. The conditions caused handling errors from both sides, with Northampton’s number eight Callum Chick and Cardiff lock Tom Manz both knocking on near the try line.
Cardiff’s response came early in the second half when Millard exploited a gap inside the 22. The Welsh centre’s try reignited Cardiff’s hopes, and they applied pressure on Northampton, forcing errors. The score stood at 14-12 on the hour after a sin bin for Northampton’s fly-half Anthony Belleau. Cardiff capitalised when Jarrod Evans floated the ball to Grady, who scored on the right wing.
Northampton quickly regained control as Hendy juggled the ball over the line for a try converted by Pater. The wing also made a crucial defensive contribution by chasing down Josh Adams to prevent a certain Cardiff try. Dingwall’s score in the 78th minute wrapped up the match, although Northampton fell short of the bonus point for scoring five tries.
The Saints’ line-up featured Pater, Sleightholme, Hutchinson, Thame, Hendy, Belleau, Mitchell, Fischetti, Smith, Kundiona, Lockett, van der Mescht, Kemeny, Taylor, and Chick. Dingwall came on as a replacement. Cardiff fielded Young, Grady, Millard, Emanuel, Bowen, Evans, Mulder, Southworth, D Hughes, Wainwright, Manz, Thornton, Paea, D Thomas, and Faletau, with Adams among the substitutes.
The referee for the match was Jeremy Rozier from France, assisted by Thomas Charabas and Cyrille Boulay, with Julien Castaignede serving as the TMO.
Northampton will next travel to Stade Francais in December, then visit Montpellier in January before finishing the group stage at home against the Bulls. Cardiff’s upcoming fixtures include hosting Bath, then traveling to Stade Francais and hosting Montpellier in January.
According to Yahoo Sports.
