Northampton break England’s duck in Champions Cup with victory over Cardiff

The story

Source: The Guardian Sport · NewTimes editorial text based on the source feed.

Pool 4: Northampton 28-12 Cardiff Saints claim first win for Prem side at eighth time of asking At 7.16pm, just around the time those Sunday night blues kick in, England’s Champions Cup cohort finally had something to cheer about.

It was not pretty but after seven of their Prem rivals had failed to claim victory in the opening round of the competition, Northampton survived a sizeable scare from Cardiff to put one on the board for the Prem.

It might be harsh on some of the performances this weekend – Gloucester were immense in drawing with Bordeaux, Exeter mightily unlucky to be beaten in Toulouse – but zero wins from eight would have been a crushing embarrassment for a league that has been feted for its attacking exploits so far this season.