Northampton (31) 59
Tries: Pater 3, Hendy, Freeman 3, Coles, Sleightholme
Cons: F Smith 5, Belleau 2
Newcastle (14) 26
Tries: Wade 2, Jordan, Kok
Cons: Connon, Henry 2
James Pater and Tommy Freeman both ran in devastating hat-tricks as reigning champions Northampton Saints emphatically kicked off their domestic league title defence with a comfortable 59-26 victory over a vastly overhauled Newcastle Red Bulls side at a sun-drenched Franklin’s Gardens.
Just three months after securing a memorable second Premiership title against Exeter Chiefs at Allianz Stadium, the Saints picked up right where they left off, delivering a masterclass in attacking rugby. They overwhelmed a much-changed Newcastle outfit that has experienced a massive summer overhaul, welcoming no fewer than 25 new players through the door as part of a sweeping rebuild under their coaching staff.
Three tries apiece for Pater and Freeman, complemented by clinical scores from George Hendy, Alex Coles, and substitute Ollie Sleightholme, produced an imposing nine-try tally. The reigning champions were brilliantly orchestrated throughout by fly-half Fin Smith, whose tactical vision and flawless distribution pulled the visitors’ defensive structure apart time and time again.
Yet, despite the lopsided scoreline signaling another opening-day defeat for Newcastle, there were genuine shoots of recovery for the travelling side. The Red Bulls showed commendable fighting spirit to cross the whitewash four times, securing a hard-fought losing bonus point. Head coach Dan McFarland and his squad will take considerable heart from these attacking flashes as they embark on a long campaign with the ultimate aspiration of breaking a five-year cycle that has regularly seen them prop up the foot of the Premiership table.
The tone for a dominant first half was set early by the home side. Pater crossed the try line twice inside the opening fifteen minutes, carving through Newcastle’s defensive line with blistering pace and intelligent running angles. Hendy, Freeman, and Coles quickly followed suit, each exploiting gaps in a visiting rearguard that struggled to cope with the relentless tempo of Northampton’s phase play.
However, Newcastle were far from passive and demonstrated that they possess the firepower to cause serious problems for plenty of teams across the league this season. Former England wing Christian Wade turned back the clock with a brilliant individual display, scoring two well-taken tries that were both successfully converted. His first score was a sensational, length-of-the-field counter-attack that went from sideline to sideline, catching Northampton flat-footed and briefly leveling the match early in the contest.
While those attacking moments provided undeniable positives for McFarland’s men, a pair of costly yellow cards served as an equalizing and ultimately decisive factor against them. The visitors’ defensive efforts were severely hampered when Harrison Obatoyinbo was sent to the sin bin for a trip during the first half, quickly followed after the interval by Pouri Rakete-Stones, who was penalized for an illegal no-hands tackle directly under his own posts.
Those defensive lapses and numerical disadvantages offered the relentless Saints an invitation to pull clear, an opportunity the champions gleefully accepted to turn a competitive contest into a comprehensive rout.
Throughout the full eighty minutes, the visitors found themselves with no real tactical answer to the immense physical power and deceptive pace of Henry Pollock. The young back-row forward celebrated his lucrative new £400,000 contract extension not only with an eye-catching new braided hairstyle but with a relentless, all-action performance that thoroughly justified the substantial financial commitment the club has placed in his future development.
Pollock was far from alone in hitting the ground running for the new campaign. Smith was superb in his orchestration of the backline, while the finishing abilities of Freeman and Pater proved altogether ruthless when opportunities presented themselves in the red zone.
Freeman completed his personal hat-trick with two well-executed tries in the second half, sandwiching a score from Cam Jordan—the lock registering his first try for Newcastle since arriving from Gloucester during the summer transfer window.
Sleightholme made an immediate impact, pouncing for a score mere seconds after entering the fray from the replacements bench, before the exceptionally sharp Pater rounded off a magnificent individual display by completing his own hat-trick to seal the half-century of points.
Despite the defensive leaks and the mounting pressure, Newcastle continued to scrap until the final whistle. The impressively mobile Werner Kok deservedly scored a late consolation try deep into the second half, ensuring that the visitors did not leave Northampton empty-handed and took a valuable bonus point back to the northeast.
Reflecting on the performance after the final whistle, Northampton Saints try-scorer Tommy Freeman offered an honest assessment of his team’s opening display when speaking to BBC Radio Northampton.
"Good start and lots of points on the board which is good to see, but I think there is loads more in us which is what we said at half-time, but overall a good result," Freeman said.
"Our set piece, we need to tighten up a bit on that first phase. Defensively we were caught a bit tight, but credit to Newcastle for stressing us in those areas, but we would like to see better movement.
"It is always a challenge and going back-to-back titles is not done by many teams. There is a reason for that, but we will be looking to take each week as it comes and keep putting our DNA on the pitch."
From the opposing dugout, Newcastle head coach Dan McFarland offered a pragmatic view of his side’s opening assignment, balancing the heavy scoreline against the clear positives generated by his newly assembled squad.
"We put a lot of good stuff out there, but we were tested today by a really, really good team," McFarland told BBC Radio Newcastle. "We know where we stand now and where we’ve got to work. We have a long journey ahead of us and that was the first step.
"It was a fantastic score when we had a length-of-the-field try, and that was really us, and we also had a lot of defensive sets where we showed really good scramble and stopped them from scoring.
"But the game is up and down. We had that yellow card and then we had three tries which were scored during that yellow, and the try just before half-time was a real killer.
"Maybe we left a couple of tries out there, but there is plenty in that that we will take away and see as a real positive."
Northampton Starting XV: Pater, Freeman, Hutchinson, Dingwall, Hendy, F Smith, McParland, Iyogun, Langdon, Kundiona, Coles, Prowse, Kemeny, Pollock, Chick
Replacements: R Smith, Fischetti, Neculai, Lockett, Taylor, Mitchell, Belleau, Sleightholme
Newcastle Starting XV: Obatoyinbo, Wade, Hearle, Harris, Kok, Connon, Elliott, Rakete-Stones, McGuigan, Millar Mills, Usher, Jordan, Hicks, Christie, Graham
Replacements: Fletcher, West, Harper, Molina, Leatherbarrow, Cruz, Henry, Sotutu
Sin Bin: Obatoyinbo (14), Rakete-Stones (43)
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe