England skipper Martin Johnson was at the centre of an injury scare as his
Leicester side defeated Northampton in the East Midlands derby at Franklin's
Garden.
Just seven days before England attempt to land a grand slam with victory over
Ireland in Dublin, Johnson failed to appear after the interval of his side's
bruising encounter.
The Leicester captain finally emerged to watch the second half as a spectator
on the Leicester bench, with ice strapped to his wrist, leaving Woodward to hope
that any damage is not long term.
Leicester made light of Johnson's absence to secure what could turn out to be
a priceless win, a quickfire two-try burst from Austin Healey and Australian
centre Rod Kafer steering them to victory.
The day had started well for Northampton.
Under a bright blue sky, former Saints coach Ian McGeechan opened the club's
new £5million stand.
In performing his ceremonial duties, McGeechan expressed the hope that one of
Northampton's Scotland's contingents - who now coaches at national level - would
score the opening try in front of the new surroundings.
The vast majority of a capacity 11,000 crowd were delighted to see McGeechan's
wish granted.
Centre John Leslie brought the home supporters to their feet in first-half
stoppage time when he intercepted Andy Goode's hopeful pass inside the
Northampton half and scooted 70 metres to the line.
That effort was hardly in keeping with what had gone before, although Paul
Grayson's failure to convert from a simple position certainly was.
Within 90 seconds of the start Leicester prop Graham Rowntree became the first
man sin-binned taking immediate retribution for an incident involving Neil Back,
which left the England flanker needing treatment for a gaping wound above his
eye.
Northampton captain Budge Pountney also saw yellow for trampling on Glenn
Gelderbloom midway through the half.
The only other points before the interval were an exchange of penalties
between Grayson and Leicester full-back Tim Stimpson. Grayson missed an
opportunity to extend his side's lead still further when a regulation penalty
attempt drifted wide.
As well as giving the watching Woodward palpitations, Johnson's non-emergence
after the interval must also have offered Northampton an increased chance of
holding onto their lead.
However, Goode's drop goal within a minute of the restart signalled
Leicester's intention not to bow down even though they were now without their
captain plus injury victims Martin Corry and Freddie Tuilagi, who pulled out
injured before kick-off.
Grayson missed yet another penalty chance before immediately making amends to
re-establish Northampton's five-point lead from the touchline.
However, Leicester have not won three consecutive titles without being a
resilient bunch and none more so than Healey.
The Lions anti-hero during the summer, Healey inspired the Tigers' fight-back
just before the hour when he somehow managed to squeeze his way over from an
improbable position after the Leicester forwards had driven their way towards
the Saints line.
Then, within a minute, Kafer put the visitors in front for the first time.
Ben Cohen appeared to have cleaned up quite well when taking a high ball under
pressure from Lewis Moody, when possession was moved out through Luca Martin the
ball spilled to the floor and Leicester seized possession.
After transferring through two pairs of hands, Back then provided the pass
which set Kafer away on his 30-metre scoring run.
Stimpson converted the latter effort before winger Steve Booth dropped a goal
from a central position to increase Northampton's misery.
The arrival of legendary All Black flanker Josh Kronfeld for his debut was
hardly greeted with enthusiasm by the flagging home troops and Grayson's two
further missed penalties increased their woe still further.
Teams
Northampton: Grayson, Moir, Jorgensen, Leslie,
Cohen, Brooks,
Dawson, Smith, Thompson, Stewart, Newman, Brouzet, Blowers,
Pountney, Seely.
Replacements: Martin for Moir (30), Todd for Smith (80),
Brotherstone for Thompson (80), Phillips for Newman (70).
Not Used: Soden, Malone, Tucker.
Sin Bin: Pountney (19).
Tries: Leslie.
Pens: Grayson 2.
Leicester: Stimpson, Booth, Gelderbloom, Kafer, Smith, Goode,
Healey, Rowntree, West, Garforth, M. Johnson, Kay, W. Johnson,
Back, Short, Kronfeld, Hamilton.
Replacements: Hamilton for Stimpson (44),
Hamilton for Healey (80), Nebbett for Garforth (79),
Moody for M. Johnson (41), Kronfeld for Kay (70),
Deacon for W. Johnson (51), Kronfeld for Back (2),
Back for Kronfeld (10), Stimpson for Hamilton (52).
Not Used: Chuter, Naylor.
Sin Bin: Rowntree (3).
Tries: Healey, Kafer.
Cons: Stimpson.
Pens: Stimpson.
Drop Goals: Goode, Booth.
Att: 11,750
Ref: Chris White (RFU).
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