Saints better by Myler than sorry Scarlets

With Stephen Myler giving an assured performance at stand-off, Northampton demoralised the Scarlets in the second half, scoring 20 points to reach the semi-finals of the EDF Energy Cup.

"That is what a club like this deserves," Jim Mallinder, the Saints director of rugby, said. "It took us 15 minutes to get into the game but we sorted out our problems and managed to keep our shape and discipline. We've still got a long way to go. We're not the finished article by any means."

Related articles

• Jones bemoans failure to tackle breakdowns in play
• Search the news archive for more stories

That goes double for the Scarlets who, for the third time in a cup competition this season, built a lead only to see it evaporate. "That was the story of our season," Nigel Davies, the head coach, said. "We let ourselves down at key moments, although we didn't get the bounce of the ball." He might have added that they experienced death by video, as two decisions went against them, but the fact is that Northampton thoroughly deserved to progress from Pool D.

Yet the Scarlets got off to a dream start. Ceiron Thomas made inroads, breaking two tackles, and when the ball was switched right Regan King could not believe his luck as he brushed past Chris Ashton, who looked more a spectator than a tackler, for one of the softest tries the New Zealander will ever have scored.

A few minutes later Morgan Stoddart, the Scarlets full-back, belted down the left and went outside Sean Lamont for try number two. Neither conversion went close, but at 10-0 the Scarlets might have thought they were in for a red-letter day.

If Ashton looked suspect in defence, however, he was a lot more impressive in attack. When the Saints made an incursion into enemy territory,it was the turn of the Scarlets tacklers to disappear like a snowflake on a bonfire.

A straightforward attack down the short side found Ashton in space, and he easily wrongfooted Sililo Martens to go over in the corner. After Ceiron Thomas and Myler had landed a penalty each, Northampton made it 13-13. Ashton was given too much space by the debutant Matthew Jacob and he squeezed over in the right-hand corner. A blatant forward pass by Bruce Reihana went unnoticed and what concerned the referee, Wayne Barnes, was whether or not Ashton had put a foot in touch. The man studying the video ruled that he had not.

There was a decisive swing either side of half-time. Stoddart came close but the video official ruled that he had made a double movement as he attempted to cross the line.

Northampton took the lead early in the second half, when Reihana was given the freedom of Franklin's Gardens as he careered down the left flank, capitalising on a mysterious absence of Scarlet jerseys.

It got better for the Saints as the Scarlets threatened to draw level. David Lyons, the No 8, broke a tackle (nothing new there) and appeared to ground the ball for a try. The eye in the sky thought otherwise. As Lyons got over the line he lost control of the ball. The saviour was Myler, who somehow wormed his way between Lyons and the whitewash.

Myler promptly kicked a penalty to give his side a 10-point lead, before the arrival of the fourth home try. It earned a bonus point that, in the end, was surplus to requirements. Lamont, from close range, ducked and dived his way inside a porous defence to score at the posts.

The Scarlets had brought on the Wales stand-off Stephen Jones in an attempt to revitalise their challenge, but when he tried to land a penalty he was hopelessly off-target. Inadvertently, though, Jones provided a spark of hope when he was floored by James Downey. The Saint was sent to the sin-bin for a cheap shot on a player who was not in possession and the Scarlets responded with a try from their replacement wing, Jonathan Davies, who crossed in the right-hand corner after an overlap had been created.

Perhaps inevitably, the last word went to the man of the match, Myler, who kicked his third penalty. The stand-off, who kept the celebrated Carlos Spencer on the bench, said: "Carlos is a quality player, but I've put my hand up for theNo 10 shirt."

Northampton: B Reihana (capt; P Diggin, 58); C Ashton, C Mayor, J Downey, S Lamont; S Myler, B Foden (L Dickson, 52); T Smith, P Shields (J Gray, 70), E Murray (S Tonga'uiha, 70), I Fernandez Lobbe, C Lawes (C Day, 22), M Hopley (M Easter, 70), R Wilson, S Gray.

Scarlets: M Stoddart; R Higgitt (J Davies, 52),R King, G Evans, M Jacob; C Thomas (S Jones, 47), S Martens (M Roberts, 51); I Thomas, K Owens (M Rees, 47), K Meeuws (P John, 64), D Jones,D Day, N Thomas (G Thomas, 47), D Lyons,S Easterby (capt).

Referee: W Barnes (England).