Northampton's victory over Leicester proved a point for Dylan Hartley and his under-fire team

It might seem a bit early in the season to be talking about redemption but there was a definite air of it around a few of the Premiership grounds last weekend.

Nowhere could this be felt more acutely than at Franklins Gardens, where Northampton took on Leicester in the East Midlands. So abject was the Saints surrender against Saracens the week before that some winced to see they had to face the Tigers the following week and yet this was probably the best fixture they could have had. If ever you want an arena in which you have to call on players to stand up it is when they are faced with their closest enemies. All week the Northampton public will have been mentioning the game to the players, in the street and on social media – whatever you do, beat Leicester. To the pressure of those entreaties, you can add the critical judgement of the Saints coaching team which was, deservedly, harsh throughout...