Saints slay Dragons to go top

Bruce Reihana's late try ensured Saints took maximum points against the Dragons.

A late Bruce Reihana try ensured Northampton took maximum points from their clash against Newport-Gwent Dragons that put them top of Pool D.

Reihana finished with a points tally of 17 from the encounter, striking two penalties and three conversions as the Saints defied wet conditions to produce some scintillating rugby.

Sean Lamont, Jon Clarke and Mark Robinson also registered tries as the extra bonus point that Northampton earned put them within touching distance of a semi-final place.

The highlight of the match came shortly after the half-time interval when Robinson produced a brilliant individual try that was converted to put Northampton 25-0 up.

Having collected the ball from the back of a scrum near the halfway line, he ran outside the Dragons back-row before bursting through a gap. His deft drop of a shoulder deluded the cover defence as he dived over to score under the posts.

The match began with the Saints taking an early lead through Reihana's boot before Lamont touched down on seven minutes.

The try came from a set-piece with Damien Browne snaring a lineout 20 metres from the Dragons line. The ball was exchanged along the back-line before Ben Cohen and Reihana combined to send Lamont over in the corner.

Northampton took a firm grasp of the tie on 16 minutes when Carlos Spencer dodged a couple of tackles before finding Clarke, who was given a simple task of going over the whitewash as Reihana kicked the extras.

The Saints extended their lead half an hour into the match with another penalty making the score 18-0.

There was brief respite for the visitors when match official Tony Spreadbury yellow carded Lamont for his early challenge on Hal Luscombe following a kick forward.

However Newport failed to take advantage of the extra man as the Saints held on until the break and then followed Robinson's solo effort.

The Dragons were their own worst enemy during the second half as several handling errors cost them try-scoring opportunities.

Reihana put the icing on the cake with his late try that he converted to ensure the bonus point for the Saints, and though the Dragons finally got themselves on the scoreboard through Gareth Wyatt's converted try, it was just a consolation score.