Northampton begin title defence with win over Newcastle

Northampton Saints' Tommy Freeman told BBC Radio Northampton:

"Good commencement and tons of points connected the committee which bully to spot but I deliberation determination is loads much successful america which is what we said astatine half-time, but wide a bully result.

"Our acceptable portion we request to tighten up a spot connected that archetypal phase. Defensively we were caught a spot tight, but recognition to Newcastle for stressing america successful those areas but we would similar to spot amended movement.

"It is ever a situation and going back-to-back [titles] is not done by galore teams. There is simply a crushed for that but we volition beryllium looking to instrumentality each week arsenic it comes and support putting our DNA connected the pitch."

Newcastle caput manager Dan McFarland told BBC Radio Newcastle:

"We enactment a batch of bully worldly retired determination but we were tested contiguous by a really, truly bully team. We cognize wherever we basal present and wherever we've got to work. We person a agelong jounrey up of america and that was the archetypal step.

"It was a fantastic people erstwhile we had a magnitude of the tract effort and that was truly america and we besides had a batch of antiaircraft sets wherever we had showed truly bully scramble and stopped them from scoring.

"But the crippled is up and down. We had that yellowish paper and past we had 3 tries which were scored during that yellow, and the effort conscionable earlier half-time was a existent killer.

"Maybe we near a mates of tries retired determination but determination is plentifulness successful that that we volition instrumentality distant and spot arsenic a existent positive."

Northampton: Pater, Freeman, Hutchinson, Dingwall, Hendy, F Smith, McParland, Iyogun, Langdon, Kundiona, Coles, Prowse, Kemeny, Pollock, Chick

Replacements: R Smith, Fischetti, Neculai, Lockett, Taylor, Mitchell, Belleau, Sleightholme.

Newcastle: Obatoyinbo, Wade, Hearle, Harris, Kok, Connon, Elliott, Rakete-Stones, McGuigan, Millar Mills, Usher, Jordan, Hicks, Christie, Graham.

Replacements: Fletcher, West, Harper, Molina, Leatherbarrow, Cruz, Henry, Sotutu.

Sin bin: Obatoyinbo (14), Rakete-Stones (43)

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe.