Saints secure bonus-point success in lengthy clash with London Irish

It was a first win of the season for Phil Dowson's side, who were made to work hard by Irish, especially when the away side were down to 12 men.

Declan Kidney's side were hit by three sin-binnings in as many minutes at the end of a first half that lasted more than an hour, with two lengthy injury issues also causing problems for Irish.

Saints led 10-0 at the break thanks to a try from Juarno Augustus and five points from the boot of James Grayson.

Irish stuck to their task despite the injuries and disciplinary issues, and they added notched three points while down to 12 men.

But Saints, who had been overplaying against the short-handed opposition, got up and running again when Irish were restored to 15 men.

Tries from Ollie Sleightholme, Alex Mitchell and George Furbank made sure of maximum points for the black, green and gold.

Grayson saw yellow before the end, but it wasn't to matter as Saints secured the victory they wanted.

Grayson had come in at late notice for Saints as they were dealt a blow before kick-off, with Dan Biggar forced to withdraw due to illness.

That meant Furbank would skipper Saints for the first time.

The black, green and gold had an early chance to apply pressure, but they were suffocated as they attempted to piece together a lineout drive.

At the other end, some fine defensive work from Augustus relieved some pressure for Saints.

And Augustus was soon making his mark in attack after some majestic play from Mitchell.

The scrum-half chipped ahead, gathered and fired a sensational long pass out to the right, where Augustus held off his man and got the ball down under real pressure.

Grayson slotted the conversion from out wide, and Saints held an early 7-0 lead.

Irish turned down an easy three points as they sought to respond, but after kicking to the corner they were penalised for blocking in the maul.

Saints were coming under increasing pressure though, with the home side's penalty count rising rapidly.

Irish continually kicked to the corner in pursuit of their first try, and only some last-gasp Saints defending held them up over the line.

The game was turning into a scrappy affair, with two lengthy injury issues for Irish holding things up.

Adam Coleman's departure brought Api Ratuniyarawa into the action, with the former Saints lock getting a warm cheer as he trotted on seven minutes before the break.

Irish thought they had responded before the break thanks to a fine finish from Henry Arundell, but the TMO had spotted an incident in the build-up.

Tom Pearson was deemed to have hit Alex Waller high off the ball, with the Irish flanker yellow carded and Waller going off for a head injury assessment.

Saints made the most of the penalty as Grayson slotted it to extend the lead to 10 points.

Things were to escalate quickly after that as Irish were hit by two more yellow cards, reducing them to 12 men.

Arundell was sin-binned for deliberately knocking the ball out of play, with Rory Hutchinson hunting him down in pursuit of a try.

And then as Saints tried to move the ball right after a lineout drive broke down, Rob Simmons was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on.

Saints failed to take their chance to punish Irish before the break though, leaving the gap at 10 points.

And when Aaron Hinkley knocked on at the start of the second half, Irish had the chance to waste some time from the scrum.

They did more than that, earning a penalty that allowed Paddy Jackson to waste more time and, more importantly, give his side their first points of the game.

Saints were having a shocker against the 12 men, trying far too many Hollywood passes and struggling to keep possession as Irish defended for their lives and held out comfortably.

When Irish were restored to a full complement, Saints had still failed to score, but that was to change almost immediately against the 15 men.

Matt Proctor went close before the ball was moved right by Grayson, allowing Sleightholme to cruise in for the score.

Grayson missed the conversion, but he was soon successful with a simpler attempt, adding the extras after Mitchell had spotted a gap and scored his second of the game.

Grayson notched a penalty to give Saints some more breathing space as they pursued the try that would give them the bonus point.

But it was Irish who would score next as Ollie Hassell-Collins went flying forward before Arundell took it on, allowing Will Joseph to pick up and score in the corner.

Jackson missed the conversion to leave Saints 25-8 ahead with 16 minutes of the match remaining.

Things started to get interesting three minutes later as Grayson was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on after Curtis Rona broke the Saints line.

The referee checked with the TMO, and soon awarded the penalty try, meaning the gap was cut to just 10 points.

Furbank soon stepped up to extend the lead to 13 as he struck a penalty well in the absence of Grayson.

And Furbank had even more to celebrate seven minutes from time as Alex Coles broke away and offloaded superbly for the full-back to bag the bonus-point try.

Furbank added the extras and the game was won.

But there was still time for a try from Hassell-Collins as London Irish had the final say.

Saints: Furbank; Sleightholme, Proctor, Hutchinson (Litchfield 62), Collins (Skosan 75); Biggar (c), Mitchell (Braley 73); Waller (Iyogun 38), Matavesi (Haywood 58), Hill (Petch 51); Salakaia-Loto (Nansen 73), Moon; Coles, Hinkley (Scott-Young 53), Augustus.

London Irish: Arundell; Loader (Joseph 57), Rona, van Rensburg, Hassell-Collins; Jackson, White (Englefield 55); Gigena (Fischetti 28), Cornish (Miller 70), Chawatama (Parker 57); Simmons, Coleman (c) (Ratuniyarawa 33); Donnell, Pearson; Rogerson (Cunningham-Smith 67).

Referee: Luke Pearce