Northampton 90-0 Gloucester: Rampant Saints thrash hapless Cherry and Whites… as Phil Dowson’s facet safe a record-breaking win at Franklin’s Gardens

Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson admitted to having some sympathy for Gloucester after the league leaders’ record-breaking 90-0 victory secured a house semi-final within the Gallagher Premiership.

Ninth-placed Gloucester confirmed the place their priorities lie by making 12 modifications to the staff who defeated Italian outfit Benetton within the semi-finals of the European Problem Cup final week, and their makeshift line-up was torn to shreds.

Ruthless Saints ran in 14 tries at a sunny Franklin’s Gardens to rack up their greatest Premiership win, the very best factors whole by a house staff within the competitors’s historical past and its second-widest margin of victory.

Dowson mentioned: ‘I do know (Gloucester head coach) George Skivington fairly properly and there’s clearly completely different priorities happening. 

‘We needed to do one thing as a way to assure a house semi, George is constructing in the direction of a European remaining and subsequent season, so there have been completely different motivating components.

‘It’s by no means good to be on the tip of a 90-0 humping however, on the similar time, we had a job to do.’

Ollie Sleightholme scored a hat-trick for Northampton, whose different tries got here from George Furbank, Fraser Dingwall, Curtis Langdon (2), Alex Mitchell, Alex Waller, Sam Matavesi (2), Emmanuel Iyogun, Alex Moon and Tom James. Skivington mentioned: ‘I knew momentum would go in opposition to us in some unspecified time in the future and it could be exhausting to recuperate, however that was extraordinarily painful.’