Freddie Steward drives Leicester to 41-17 Prem Rugby derby win
Leicester beat Northampton 41-17 in prem rugby and did it with six tries at home. Freddie Steward finished the scoring for the Tigers, who moved third after a derby that produced more cards than any previous meeting between the sides.
Leicester Tigers Overpower Northampton Saints
The margin was built in the middle of the game, when Leicester put 22 points on Northampton in the 10 minutes either side of half-time. That burst turned the derby into a one-sided finish and gave Leicester their highest points total ever against Saints.
Northampton arrived as league leaders and could have secured a playoff place with a bonus-point win, but they left without it. Leicester, by contrast, climbed to third, moved within one point of Bath and cut the gap to Northampton to five points.
Freddie Steward Finishes The Six-Try Win
Steward capped the six-try victory for the hosts, closing a scoreline that reflected how often Leicester broke through. The Tigers’ pack also carried the load up front, with the home side overpowering Northampton in a derby that had the stands sold out.
Leicester’s week had already been disrupted by the loss of fly-half Billy Searle, who is out for the rest of the season, but George Martin returned up front and helped steady the side. That left the home team short in one area and stronger in another, and the balance showed in the final score.
Cards Pile Up At The Death
The discipline count kept rising after Leicester’s fifth try sparked a second mass brawl, and two yellow cards followed. Charlie Clare also saw yellow for a swinging arm with 12 minutes remaining, before two more yellow cards were issued for technical infringements.
The match ended with Izaia Perese shown a 20-minute red card for an upright challenge on George Furbank at the death. By then the result was settled, but the card count had already made this the most heavily penalized fixture between Leicester and Northampton.
Northampton’s defeat was their first of 2026, and it came in a game they had approached with a chance to lock up playoff football. Leicester took that opening away with six tries, a club-record points haul in this fixture and a result that pulls them into the top three with Bath and Northampton still ahead of them.
