{"id":962576,"date":"2026-05-15T23:34:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T23:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/962576\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T23:34:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T23:34:24","slug":"northampton-v-bristol-five-takeaways-as-england-hopeful-bags-four-for-94-point-saints-and-key-man-justifies-selection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/962576\/","title":{"rendered":"Northampton v Bristol: Five takeaways as England hopeful bags four for 94-point Saints and ‘key man’ justifies selection"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Barbarians<\/a><\/p>\n

Bristol Bears conceded a record number of points in the PREM on Friday, losing 94-33 to Northampton Saints at Franklin\u2019s Gardens.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are our five takeaways from the game.<\/p>\n

The top line<\/p>\n

If we described each try in wonderful detail, we\u2019d be here all evening. So, we\u2019ll simply go with this: Bristol shipped a record 61 points in the first half.<\/p>\n

Northampton were playing like a side devoid of pressure, and their fluid style showed just that. Tries from Alex Coles, Josh Kemeny, Callum Chick, Archie McParland, George Furbank<\/a>, and two each for George Hendy and Rory Hutchinson saw them through to the half with an unassailable lead.<\/p>\n

Tries from Louis-Rees Zammit and Harry Thacker weren\u2019t enough to save the Bears from visible embarrassment as they entered the tunnel at half-time.<\/p>\n

In the second half, Henry Pollock, McParland (again) and Sam Graham all wrote their names on the scoresheet, while Hendy jotted two more marks next to his.<\/p>\n

Harry Randall, Luka Ivanishvili and Noah Heward ensured that the Bears would exit the midlands with a try bonus point and a crumb of credibility. Still, none will remember the day with fondness.<\/p>\n

Stand out stars<\/p>\n

For Northampton, their entire squad brought one thing or another to the game.<\/p>\n

Pollock was relentless. His energy was beyond even that which we\u2019ve come to expect of him. He led the tackle charts and the carries, scored a try and even assisted two.<\/p>\n

Fin Smith showed an incredible ability to straighten up and guide his team around the park, even in such an open game, and poke holes in a weakened defence.<\/p>\n

Tommy Freeman was excellent down the right wing, showing all the speed, power, and deserved confidence that has made him one of the most highly respected wingers in the world.<\/p>\n

PREM Rugby round 16: Predictions, teams, kick-off times, how to watch and referee appointments<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Hendy told the press earlier this week that he wanted to play for England, and his efforts in this game just solidified his reasoning. His finishing was, once again, excellent, causing a torrid time for opposite number Rees-Zammit, scoring four tries in the process.<\/p>\n

Hutchinson was brilliant in the 12 shirt, opening up the Bears\u2019 defence with pinpoint passes, and even getting on the scoresheet a couple of times himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The key man in Friday\u2019s demolition, however, was young scrum half McParland<\/a>, who created so much and kept the Bristol defence backpedalling. The 21-year-old showed exactly why he had been given the number nine shirt to start, and why many expect him to receive an England call-up very soon.<\/p>\n

Despite conceding a mammoth number of points, there were still some Bristol players who did themselves proud out there.<\/p>\n

Flanker Joe Owen showed excellent speed on the attack, Randall<\/a> sniped well, constantly threatening the Saints\u2019 line, and Thacker made some really impressive carries, refusing to be brought down at the first attempt.<\/p>\n

Bristol ill-discipline costs dearly<\/p>\n

As if a crumbling defence wasn\u2019t bad enough with 15 men on the field, it got a whole lot worse when Kalaveti Ravouvou was shown yellow for a deliberate knock-on in the first half. During his time off the field, Bristol conceded three tries, signalling the beginning of the end for the visitors. In fact, prior to his short-term exit, the west country side had been just seven points behind.<\/p>\n

Again, when Joe Batley was sent to the bin at the end of the first half, another three tries were fizzed past Bristol. And as history will now tell us, Matias Moroni\u2019s yellow with just six minutes remaining allowed for a further two, and if time allowed, the law of averages would suggest a further try would have occurred.<\/p>\n

Bristol players weren\u2019t just falling foul of the law. Their presence had also expired with the officials.<\/p>\n

Rees-Zammit showed a football-like mentality to argue with Luke Pearce<\/a> before the break, which almost saw the Welshman leave the field as well, and captain Fitz Harding, normally so composed, was shut down in the latter stages when Pearce deemed his question \u2018aggressive\u2019.<\/p>\n

Cracks within the ranks showed during the match, and Bristol\u2019s lack of cohesion became a quiet implosion.<\/p>\n

Credit must go to Ellis Genge for remaining calm, however. In years past, he may not have handled the frustration as well as he did on Friday. But, now an experienced international in his prime, he kept his composure \u2013 even with Pollock winding him up.<\/p>\n

South African confirmed as one of 16 end-of-season leavers despite playing \u2018key role\u2019 in \u2018Ulster\u2019s relentless attack\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Confidence shapes a game<\/p>\n

Northampton were calm and composed with their attack, and it would be wrong to suggest that Bristol didn\u2019t offer their own threat. But it was in defence that the visitors folded. Beyond first-phase possession, the Bears looked lost, unable to communicate as the cohesive Saints<\/a> ran riot.<\/p>\n

Of course, both sides came into the game with different mindsets. Bristol desperately needed a win to kick-start their attack on the final playoff spot, while Northampton had secured their place already. The way in which the two sides played reflected their respective positions.<\/p>\n

Northampton were not afraid to throw the ball around, but also did it in a short, sharp way. Each half break was destined to become fully fledged, with the Saints players trusting that their teammates would be on their shoulders. There was no second-guessing, no doubting that their colleague would be running to the exact position that the ball would land.<\/p>\n

This level of cohesion only comes from teams with huge confidence within each other, generated from years of success built from the ground up.<\/p>\n

Bristol, on the other hand, have enjoyed varying levels of success in recent times, but not at the same level as their opponent, and certainly not in recent months. In fact, Bristol have won just two of their last games in all competitions, and their lack of confidence in one another was obvious.<\/p>\n

Losing their seat at the table<\/p>\n

Bristol did well to get a bonus point, but their overwhelmingly poor points difference could count against them if they do manage to generate results in their final couple of matches.<\/p>\n

They will host reigning champions Bath at Ashton Gate in the next round, before travelling to Sale<\/a> in the final weekend of the regular season.<\/p>\n

Their chances of play-off qualification have diminished dramatically with this loss, however, as Exeter Chiefs now sit four points ahead of them with a game in hand, while Leicester Tigers and Bath are effectively uncatchable, unless miracles were to happen.<\/p>\n

Northampton, however, have stretched their lead over last year\u2019s champions Bath to 67 points, which all but guarantees them a home semi-final.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0World Rugby regulations creating \u2018delicate\u2019 NZ Rugby situation with All Blacks \u2018highly active\u2019 in pursuit of Super Rugby\u2019s hottest prospect<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bristol Bears conceded a record number of points in the PREM on Friday, losing 94-33 to Northampton Saints…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":962577,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5008],"tags":[381,748,393,126,4884,225,12,10327,6875,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-962576","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-england","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-features","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-home-page","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-northampton-saints","16":"tag-premiership","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116581216087109731","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=962576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/962577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=962576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=962576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=962576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}