Shane Drahm produced a virtuoso performance which enabled Northampton to
convincingly beat Leeds.
The Australian fly-half contributed 21 points with a superb solo try, five
conversations from five attempts and two penalties as Leeds suffered their
fourth successive Zurich Premiership defeat.
Drahm, snapped up from relegated Bristol Shoguns during the close season, had
a significant hand in two other tries.
Northampton were trailing 10-0 after 10 minutes in which Leeds fly-half Gordon
Ross kicked a second-minute penalty and then converted Liam Botham's try.
But by half-time Drahm had inspired a remarkable turnaround which saw
Northampton go in with a 32-10 lead and a bonus point for scoring four tries.
Wing Bruce Reihana took a pass from scrum-half Johnny Howard to score the
first in the 15th minute and Drahm jinked and side-stepped his way in seven
minutes later.
The Aussie then produced a neat side-footed kick to set up the third try for
John Leslie in the 37th minute and, in the first minute of injury-time, produced
the long pass which stretched Leeds before Reihana hoisted his kick towards the
right corner where James Brooks collected and touched down.
In the closing stages of the first half Leeds had been temporarily reduced to
13 men when both Ross and full-back Dan Scarbrough were sent to the sin-bin.
Drahm also added a 29th-minute penalty to his four first-half conversions. His
only miss of the day was a 45th-minute penalty attempt before Leeds hit back
with their second try through Dan Hyde, converted by Ross.
But Drahm added his tally with a 64th-minute penalty and a conversion after
replacement Mark Tucker charged down a kick on the half-way line and hacked
ahead three times before diving on the ball for a 71st-minute try.
Scarbrough responded with Leeds' third try in the 79th minute, Ross converting
but Reihana had the final say three minutes into injury-time, scoring his second
try for Northampton before adding the conversion himself.
Teams:
Northampton: Beal, Brooks, Hyndman, Leslie, Reihana, Drahm,
Howard, Smith, Richmond, Morris, Lord, Connors, Seely, Fox,
Blowers.
Tries: Reihana 2, Drahm, Leslie, Brooks, Tucker.
Cons: Drahm 5, Reihana.
Pens: Drahm 2.
Replacements: Tucker for Leslie (63), Ripol for Drahm (79),
Budgen for Morris (63), Phillips for Lord (63),
Hunter for Connors (27), Miles for Blowers (73).
Not Used: Sleightholme.
Leeds: Scarbrough, Rees, Christophers, Botham, Albanese, Ross,
Stuart-Smith, Shelley, Rawlinson, Holt, Morgan, Hooper, Salter,
Ponton, Hyde.
Replacements: Snyman for Christophers (31),
Walsh for Albanese (61), Murphy for Salter (63).
Not Used: Powell, Cusack, Popham, Walker.
Tries: Botham, Hyde, Scarbrough.
Cons: Ross 3.
Pens: Ross.
Att: 11,292
Ref: Steve Leyshon (RFU).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook