Leicester Tigers 28 Northampton Saints 7: Tom Vickers' review and player ratings

Simplifying that for non-tennis fans, it basically means squaring up to an already extremely strong opponent who is just totally at home in their environment (Nadal won 14 Roland Garros titles and is widely considered the best clay-court player of all time).

And when it’s Saints who are the ones travelling to face Tigers in such a scenario, the difficulty level goes from very hard to ultimate.

Because not only are Leicester completely comfortable in those conditions, their fire and desire is fuelled by the sight of their local rivals heading up the M1, as summed up by England full-back Freddie Steward after Saturday’s game.

“As a lad who has grown up supporting Leicester Tigers, this is the fixture,” Steward said. “We get once a year to get these guys (Saints) at home in front of our people and I just love it. I just love everything about it.

"This weather just made it scrappy, great, gritty, proper old school rugby, which we like.”

That perfect (or imperfect from a Saints perspective) storm made Saturday’s scrap undoubtedly one of the toughest Phil Dowson’s men will be subjected to all season.

And though you wanted to believe the Gallagher PREM champions could find a way to overcome such a sizeable obstacle, the trepidation was always present when looking at the weather forecast during the week.

As it turned out, the first half went well, from a scoreline point of view at least, but the second half unfolded as many of a black, green and gold persuasion would have seen in their pre-match nightmares.

Saints were unable to score a single point during a sobering second 40 minutes, so often finding themselves submerged amid the deluge.

Tigers delighted in stamping their feet all over their nearest and not so dearest, tightening up their lineout and scrum, both of which was nowhere near their usual standard before the break.

Revved up by a scuffle on the stroke of half-time, Tigers started to show their teeth and looked as difficult to stop on home soil as ever.

Saints, on the other hand, looked like a Rolls Royce stuck in the garage without its wheels.

They couldn’t use their sublime attacking skill to relieve any of the pressure, having to hope for a recurrence of the slew of errors Tigers produced in a sloppy first period.

But they didn’t come - and neither did any points for a Saints side who were frustrated on the home line on more than one occasion.

They just could not find the firepower they needed to blast a hole in a resilient home rearguard.

And ultimately it was they who were shot to pieces at a typically unhappy hunting ground.

But here are the positives after a day that produced so few of them.

Gallagher PREM titles are not won in October mudbaths, they are won in the early summer sun.

The key thing is accruing enough points to ensure you’re not already on your holidays by then.

Saints lost at Leicester in the 2023/24 season without picking up a point and went on to win the title.

They lost in sorry fashion at Leicester last season, again without picking up a point, and still went on to win the title.

They lost at both Bristol and Leicester in both of their title-winning seasons, as they have done during the formative stages of this campaign.

And they are actually a point better off than they were from the same fixtures last season, taking 11 rather than 10 from games against Newcastle (home), Bristol (away), Bath (home) and Leicester (away).

So while derby-day defeats always feel extra painful, they haven’t recently proved fatal.

Saints now have the task of ensuring history repeats itself in a good way as they look to regroup and show some of that champion class we all know they have.

And what better way to do that than by turning in a big performance against a team hotly tipped by many to go close to trying to dethrone them this season.

Gloucester, buoyed by a big win against Bath, come to DPD Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday evening.

And you can bet the Cherry and Whites will be wanting to make a statement, to show that they can be beat the best and be the best.

But if the weather improves significantly and Saints do likewise, it can be they who are giving off Nadal on clay vibes.

Now they really need to make sure they serve up a sizeable showing of their own and ace their next mission to ensure they are set for the remainder of the season.

How they rated…

JAMES PATER – deserves credit for his derby-day display as this was such a tough afternoon for any full-back, never mind one who has not sampled this sort of occasion before. Grabbed a try with a well-collected finish… 6

TOMMY FREEMAN – brave in the air as he went up time and again to try to win the ball and keep the ball for his team, but Tigers eventually got on top in that area of the game… 6

RORY HUTCHINSON – made a couple of key goal-line tackles but couldn’t get in the game from an attacking sense as the rain hampered Saints going forward… 6

FRASER DINGWALL – the skipper tried to get his team on the front foot with a few carries but Tigers stood tall and stopped him making any real ground… 6

GEORGE HENDY – wasn’t really able to get in the game (understandably as the ball barely went out to him) until he made a trademark burst in the second half, forcing a yellow card only to see it pulled back for an earlier incident that meant Adam Radwan could return to the pitch immediately… 6

FIN SMITH – tried desperately to make things happen for his team and one of his chips being spilled led to James Pater’s try but other kicks ahead didn’t quite come off due to the conditions and he appeared to take a knock, which Saints will hope he can recover from this week… 6.5

ALEX MITCHELL – tried to put boot to ball to give Saints a chance to contest in the air but it was such a tough day in terms of the conditions and he was unable to set the tempo he normally would as few attacking moves were possible… 5.5

MANNY IYOGUN – gave more than as good as he got during the first period but Tigers eventually called the tune after the break… 5

CURTIS LANGDON – showed some good footwork in tight spaces on a tough day underfoot and showed good awareness to grab a couple of overthrown Tigers lineouts, but the hosts improved during the second half… 5.5

CLEOPAS KUNDIONA – a mixed day at scrum time against a tough Tigers pack but he did some decent work in open play when he got the chance… 5

ALEX COLES – kept going and going for his team, trying to use his international class and experience to turn the tide for his team, but with no reward… 6

ED PROWSE – got stuck in for his side in the bid to push Tigers back but they ultimately proved too strong… 5.5

JOSH KEMENY – was a menace at lineout time for Tigers during the first period but they sorted that out after the break and he couldn’t have the same impact… 6

TOM PEARSON – a tough match for him to return to action in as he made his first Gallagher PREM appearance of the season after a hand injury. Worked hard… 6

HENRY POLLOCK – got on the wrong side of the referee, giving away several penalties before eventually being replaced early in the second half… 4.5

Replacements (who played more than 20 minutes)

ION NECULAI (for Kundiona 54) – won a big breakdown penalty just after coming on and also made a big carry into the Tigers 22 as he looked to make an impact but Tigers refused to let Saints through… 6

CALLUM CHICK (for Pollock 54) – worked as hard as ever, thundering into collisions but with little reward… 5.5

TOM LOCKETT (for Pearson 57) – ended the game in the sin bin for a high tackle on Solomone Kata, though it was more of a glancing blow than anything… 4.5

ARCHIE MCPARLAND (for Mitchell 57) – Saints turned to the scrum-half to inject some extra tempo and he did make some inroads but the home side refused to break… 5.5

CHRON STAR MAN – Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers)