Leicester hit Northampton for six as league leaders crumble in fiery derby

You can play all the fancy rugby you want, you can be recent champions leading the table with only a few matches to play, but certain elemental truths still apply. One of them is that if you find yourself overpowered up front away from home in a sold-out East Midlands derby, you will be blown away.

Northampton could have secured a place in the playoffs here if they had won with a bonus point, but they did not even come close. Amid a ferocious atmosphere, records tumbled as Leicester claimed the bonus-point win to move within one point of Bath, who play Exeter on Sunday, and five shy of Saints.

They scored more points than they ever have in this fixture; there were more cards than ever too. Maybe not more aggro than ever, but there was plenty.

Leicester lost their fly-half, Billy Searle, in the week, possibly for the rest of the season, but they were bolstered by the return of George Martin up front. It looked from some way out like a contest between Leicester’s pack and Northampton’s backs. Indeed, if the latter had been paired up with the former against the inverse, who knows how hideous the scoreline would have been.

In the end, an avalanche of 22 Leicester points in the 10 minutes either side of half-time put the contest to bed. Northampton still hold their destiny in their own hands. No doubt that playoff place will be secured, but time will tell how much of a psychological blow this proves.

The physical blows have been well documented. They are without pretty much an entire front five. That situation was exacerbated further by the loss to injury of Tom Lockett just before kick-off. His prowess at the lineout was particularly missed – and didn’t Leicester capitalise. Tigers ransacked Northampton’s lineout and won key penalties at scrum time.

The two sides clash as tempers fray at Welford Road. Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images

Given the resultant surfeit of ball, a quibbler might wonder why Leicester failed to make more of it. Martin, finally back in the engine room before he leaves for Saracens in the summer, was fearsome in the second row. He only had to canter over the line after sharp hands by Freddie Steward and Ollie Chessum ended a period of pressure in the early minutes. Callum Chick saw yellow for what would have been Northampton’s fifth penalty in that stretch, had Leicester not finished the try.

The thing about having deadly backs, though, about being Northampton, is that you can strike in the blink of an eye. Saints weathered the absence of Chick without further concession, then replied on 20 minutes. One lineout successfully claimed on the halfway line and away went those backs in glorious concert, Fin Smith looping, George Hendy breaking, George Furbank drawing and giving, and Tommy Freeman finishing.