Anthony Belleau turns the screw as Northampton see off rivals Leicester

Northampton have gone all Euro and on Saturday the dividends rolled in. Not for the first time this season, it should be noted, Anthony Belleau and Edoardo Todaro, French and Italian, had the run of the place, scoring two and one tries respectively, as Northampton went to the top of the table for the time being, dispatching their nearest and dearest in the process.

Theirs has been a bitter-sweet opening to the season, squandering huge leads in games one and two, but here they timed their surges to perfection to come away with the win and their third bonus point out of three.

Leicester held the lead for large stretches of a match that only hit its straps in the second half, but by then we had not only tries in a seesawing contest, but the customary argy-bargy. Belleau’s second try, on the hour, clinched it.

But it was not always thus. Lower-leg injuries were the order of the first half. Luke Pearce, the referee, in his first domestic match of the season, was off within 10 minutes with a calf problem. George Hendy was off 15 minutes later, having landed awkwardly under a high ball, which stretched Northampton’s resources out wide.

That meant Tommy Freeman, in his first match of the season, his 100th for Northampton, moving across from wing to full-back, but a few minutes before the break, he seemed to semi-break down under a high ball, as if shot. He limped on till the break, witnessing Northampton’s third try, scored down the other wing.

Saints have absolutely blitzed opponents in the first half of their opening two matches, only to be hauled in by dramatic comebacks in the second. This time they were more circumspect in the opening exchanges. Theirs was the first try, two more returning Lions, Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith, combining, the former’s chip ahead bouncing wickedly into his hands to set up the latter for a run to the posts.

But Leicester were if anything more direct. Billy Searle had opened the scoring with a penalty in the second minute, before Freddie Steward started and finished a fine score at the end of the first quarter. Emeka Ilione, increasingly important to the Tigers, broke impressively. His failure to pass to the supporting Jack van Poortvliet was borderline criminal, but his scrum-half coolly looped round to the base of the ruck and found Steward on the hoof through the Saints’ defence.

Northampton’s Edoardo Todaro (with the ball) finds company at Franklin’s Gardens. Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images

Northampton upped the pace in the 10 minutes to half-time. Todaro, the teenage Italian winger, looks to be the next star of Franklin’s Gardens. He finished on the right after Tom Litchfield and Freeman had combined down the left to put Saints back in front. When Searle retook the lead for the visitors with a penalty two minutes before the break, Todaro broke down the left and sent Tom Pearson into the corner for the Saints’ third and a 17-13 lead.

Freeman returned for the start of the second half, but it took only one missed tackle to convince him that he could not carry on. On came Belleau, and the complexion of the game seemed to change.

First, though, Leicester retook the lead when John Wells was driven over after a series of penalties to the corner. Five minutes later, Belleau struck with his first. The France fly-half was forced to cover for Freeman’s absence at full-back, but class is class. The unfamiliar position did not seem to bother him.

He finished in the corner after a sweeping counterattack, Northampton stealing a Leicester throw deep in their 22. Fraser Dingwall and Rory Hutchinson combined to slice open the Tigers’ midfield. Belleau was in support, but Leicester scrambled to stop him. No matter, he was on hand again to take Mitchell’s pass and score in the corner.

Searle kicked another penalty to earn Leicester the lead once more, so the Saints came again. Dingwall thought he had scored just before the hour, but a minute knock-on in the buildup denied him. When Leicester cleared, Belleau took the kick with aplomb on the touchline, chipped over the advancing defender and collected another wicked bounce to stroll clear to the posts.

Smith and James O’Connor, the Wallaby veteran making his Tigers debut, exchanged late penalties, securing Leicester a bonus point, but the day belonged to Northampton’s new friends from the continent.