Premiership Rugby Cup: Nottingham 33-66 Northampton: Saints into quarter-finals

Northampton Saints cruised into the quarter-finals of the Premiership Rugby Cup by thrashing Nottingham in a 10-try win at Lady Bay.

Saints needed a bonus point to secure qualification as pool winners, and achieved it inside the first half with five tries, despite The Archers taking the lead twice in the early stages.

Phil Dowson’s side punished the hosts after a Jack Stapley yellow card, with Charlie Savala scoring a hat-trick as one of seven try scorers.

Despite a spirited effort from Nottingham, Northampton took complete control in the second half with five more tries.

Saints came into the game as heavy favourites, having won four of their five pool matches, with Nottingham winless.

Dowson picked a strong side to secure a place in the last eight, but it was the Championship side who made the early running.

Sam Green and Ryan Olowofela’s early tries, either side of Savala’s opening score, gave The Archers an early lead.

But after Stapley’s sin-binning, Northampton took control with tries from Iakopo Mapu, George Hendy, Tom James and another from Savala to give them a comfortable lead at the break.

They sealed victory early in the second period, with Tom Litchfield and Rafe Witheat’s scores, before dropping off in the latter stages.

A penalty try for the hosts, a February 14 try for Xavier Valentine, and Tom Threlfall’s late score gave them a deserved bonus point, before Tom Seabrook and Archie Benson scored late for Northampton to give them a comfortable ten-try win.

Victory took them to 25 points in their pool, giving them a decent chance of a home quarter-final in a fortnight.