Northampton Saints v Leicester Tigers: Five classic encounters

That’s not an accusation that can be leveled at Northampton Saints v Leicester Tigers, and ahead of the latest installment of the East Midlands derby, we take a look at five of their best-ever clashes, that show exactly why.

You don’t have to look far to find classic encounters between two of rugby’s oldest rivals, and, promisingly for , their most recent clash was one for the highlights reel. Back in March of this year Tigers triumphed 36-31 at Franklin’s Gardens in Aaron Mauger’s emotional last game in charge of the club.

In a breathless match Saints scored tries through Nafi Tuitavake, Ahsee Tuala and Louis Picamoles but were undone by a late, long-range Owen Williams penalty befitting of any Hollywood movie.

Echoing last season’s fixture at Franklin’s Gardens, this game saw the old rivals competing not only for bragging rights but also desperately trying to reach the Aviva Premiership Rugby play-offs. Leicester stand-off Freddie Burns got the afternoon underway before Harry Thacker saw his moment to shine, bouncing off two Saints defenders and then showing acceleration and a dummy any back would be proud of, touching down under the posts.

Myler and Teimana Harrison responded for the home side before Niki Goneva scored a 45m intercept try to put Tigers 17-10 up.

In a game that swung back-and-forth George Pisi went over before Burns also crossed the line – a 77th minute JJ Hanrahan penalty inspired hopes of a comeback but Leicester just about managed to hold on.

Northampton fans will relish the memories of this game for years to come after they edged a hugely dramatic semi-final at Franklin’s Gardens on their way to winning the Aviva Premiership Rugby Final in 2014.

Saints Skipper Phil Dowson had an early try ruled out before Matthew Tait’s searing break gave Manu Tuilagi the opportunity to dot down. Leicester stalwart Ben Youngs finished off a Logovi’i Mulipola burst, and Myler responded with a penalty before a red card for Salesi Ma’afu’ looked to have quelled the fightback.

But Wales wing George North got the hosts back in it after he picked up from a catch and drive – Owen Williams’ late penalty looked to have sealed things for Leicester but a sweeping Saints move found Tom Wood in the corner – and he bulldozed over to send his team to Twickenham.

Going into this match Northampton were looking for their first win at Welford Road , and came away feeling they’d missed a golden opportunity in a ferociously intense game that saw three yellow cards shown. Saints led 9-6 at half-time thanks to three Stephen Myler penalties, and then found themselves nearing a historic victory when British & Irish Lions prop Alex Corbisiero burrowed over in the second half.

Jim Mallinder’s side looked utterly dominant but when another surging attack ended with Sam Dickinson held up over the line you could hear the voices whispering ‘if you don’t take your chances’.

The close shave seemed to spur the hosts on and after yellow cards for Louis Deacon and Courtney Lawes, Ed Slater rumbled over at the death to allow Toby Flood a conversion that broke Northamptonshire hearts.

This may have been a low-scoring affair but it’s a classic example of a hard-fought, attritional, arm-wrestle of a match where every tackle counts. Toby Flood’s penalty was the only score in a first-half that saw Leicester’s Manu Tuilagi and Northampton’s Chris Ashton sin-binned for an early altercation.

Stephen Myler got Saints’ only points of the day but Flood restored Tigers’ lead and the older Tuilagi, Alesana, settled things with his try in the corner nine minutes from time, piledriving through Bruce Reihana.

The game bore witness to tremendous defensive efforts from both sides, but it was Leicester who edged through to a seventh successive Aviva Premiership Rugby final.