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Northampton recorded a comfortable 26-15 victory on the road in the European Champions Cup against Glasgow Warriors
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Tries from George Pisi and Ahsee Tuala plus 11-points from Stephen Myler’s boot give Saints a 21-10 lead at the interval
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Tuala touched down his second score after the break to put the visitors well clear
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The Warriors did score two tries of their own through Peter Horne and Josh Strauss with fly-half Finn Rusell making up their total from the tee
Ahsee Tuala scored two tries for Northampton as they led from start to finish to make it back-to-back European Champions Cup wins with a surprisingly routine victory on the road against Glasgow Warriors.
Jim Mallinder’s men, who edged to a narrow 15-11 home win against Scarlets last weekend, are now guaranteed to be leading Pool 3 after their three-try victory in Scotland tonight. The win also increases their chances of progressing to the knockout stages.
Saints, who attacked right up until the final whistle, though would have been disappointed not to find that elusive fourth try that would have secured the bonus-point.
Meanwhile, Glasgow, who are already in a state of uncertainty regarding when their postponed game against Racing 92 will be played, are now under qualification pressure having lost at home with some tough away trips, including Saints, to come.
Northampton were on top of the game in the early exchanges so although a penalty by Finn Russell give Glasgow an early lead, it was Saints who would be in front at the break.
George Pisi was first to touch down for the visitors after he snatched the high ball out of the air before powering over the whitewash by the posts, with Stephen Myler converting, 3-7.
A pair of penalties for Myler sandwiched around the Warriors Ryan Grant spending ten minutes in the bin extended the visitors lead to ten-points.
Following another successful Northampton lineout, Saints moved the ball from left to right before winger Tuala bulldozed past fullback Stuart Hogg fon the way to the line for an unconverted try, 3-18.
The hosts then had a bit of luck finally as Russell’s poor penalty attempt hits the upright and bounces awkwardly for Mikey Haywood, with the hooker conceding the scrum. The well-worked set piece then finished with centre Peter Horne darting over to score for the hosts with Russell converting.
However, there was still time for Myler to edge Saints further in front with his third penalty before the break, 10-21.
Glasgow threatened to start a comeback after the restart, but it was Saints who instead stretched their lead after 53 minutes when Myler’s clever grubber kick reached the capable hands of Tuala, who finished neatly for his second of the contest.
Myler though was off target with the attempted conversion, 10-26.
The Warriors responded with their first high-tempo play of the evening with the under pressure Northampton losing centre Luther Burrell after he was sent to the sin bin.
Number 8 Josh Strauss then drove over to cut the deficit just before the hour mark, but the contest ran out without further incident with Glasgow never really looking like they would get anything out of the contest.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Northampton: Kieran Brookes
Glasgow: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Peter Horne, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Leone Nakarawa, 3 Sila Puafisi, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements: 16 Shalva Mamukashvili, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Grayson Hart, 22 Richie Vernon, 23 Taqele Naiyaravoro.
Northampton: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Ahsee Tuala, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 George North, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson (c), 8 Sam Dickinson, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Christian Day, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Matti Williams, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Jon Fisher, 20 Teimana Harrison, 21 Kahn Fotuali’I, 22 Jj Hanrahan, 23 Jamie Elliott.
Date: Saturday, November 21
Venue: Scotstoun Stadium
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Referee: Pascal Gauzère (France)
Assistant Referees: Maxime Chalon (France), Jean-Luc Rebollal (France)
TMO: Gilles Cogne (France)