Tigers tamed by Super Saints

Northampton inflicted a first defeat in 33 home league games on Leicester Tigers.

Northampton Saints produced arguably the shock of the season and kick-started their Premiership survival bid with a stunning 10-9 victory over Leicester Tigers at Welford Road.

The Tigers had not lost a home league game in their last 33 matches but they just could not come to terms with Saints' masterful gameplan, which frustrated the Premiership table-toppers from the outset.

England Under-21 fly-half Stephen Myler was the focal point of Northampton's suffocating forward-based game, and they denied Leicester room all day as Mark Robinson's try proved to be a match-winner.

Pat Howard's Tigers were missing the likes of Martin Corry, Harry Ellis and Geordan Murphy due to international duty, but Northampton had their problems too as Carlos Spencer sat out with an injury.

They soon lost a groggy Darren Fox inside the opening 10 minutes, and then missed the opportunity to take the lead as Myler dragged his penalty attempt wide of the posts.

Three points would have been just reward for a controlled start by Saints, although Leicester arguably looked the more dangerous on the counter through the powerful running of Seru Rabeni and Alesana Tuilagi.

A packed Welford Road had to wait until the 25th minute for the first score of the contest, and it did not go the way they expected as Myler's boot this time rewarded his forwards for a fine start to the match.

Northampton were undoubtedly getting under the skin of their opponents in an uncharacteristically tight opening half hour, and Leicester's pack continued to serve up penalties at the ruck, drawing some angry words from the referee Sean Davey.

Myler was becoming an increasingly influential figure in an impressive first half for Saints, consistently pinning the Tigers back with some intelligent kicks from the middle of the field.

All Leicester's fans had to cheer was the disappearance of the pea from referee Davey's whistle, as Saints made it to the interval with a 3-0 lead still intact.

That lead should have been wiped out within three minutes of the restart, but instead Saints fans found themselves in dreamland as the impressive Mark Robinson pounced for an opportunist try.

After Leicester stand-off Paul Burke had missed from right in front of the posts, Robinson snapped up a loose ball on halfway to outpace Brett Deacon to the line.

Suddenly the unlikely win looked very possible, although the Tigers responded quickly to narrow the deficit to 10-3 through replacement Ian Humphreys.

The pattern of the game had now changed as Saints looked to hold onto what they had, and the attacking foursome of Tuilagi, Rabeni, Ollie Smith and Sam Vesty began to raise the pulse of the home crowd.

A fizzing penalty from Humphreys closed the gap to four points as Leicester cranked up the pressure, and the highly-talented fly-half continued to make a difference, taking his men right up to the Northampton line with a magnificent penalty on halfway.

The Tigers summoned their efforts for a catch-and-drive in trademark fashion, but video evidence could not prove a try had been scored as they crashed over the Saints line.

Three more points did follow though as Humphreys cut away at Saints' lead, which stood at 10-9 with five minutes remaining.

A final opportunity did come Leicester's way, but they surprisingly opted to run a penalty inside the Northampton half - allowing Saints to hold on for a historic victory.