May’s injury worry leaves Leicester and England to endure anxious wait
Holmes’s side-stepping break from a charged-down kick by George Ford opened up the Saints’ defence for Jordan Olowofela to finish from long range, putting Leicester in control despite an early try by Northampton flanker Jamie Gibson.
With Ford also landing two firsthalf penalties, Northampton lacked the accuracy and ruthlessness to force their way back into the match, despite a try at the end of the first half by David Ribbans and another by Mike Haywood after the interval.
Holmes, a signing from Yorkshire Carnegie in 2017, earned high praise from his captain and significantly improved Leicester’s defence.
“Jonah had a great game,” added Youngs. “We have seen him week in, week out in training and we know what he is like, and he really performed on the big stage here. He is extremely quick, strong and very good under the high ball.”
While Leicester will head to Ulster buoyed by consecutive victories that have moved Murphy’s side up to fifth place in the Premiership table, Northampton were left frustrated that they could not deliver a performance on the fundraising day for their former centre Rob Horne, who lost the use of his right arm making a tackle in this fixture at Welford Road last season.
Northampton, who lost Courtney Lawes to a back spasm on the morning of the match, entertain Clermont Auvergne in the European Challenge Cup on Saturday.
“Every game we’ve played this year we’ve expected to perform well enough to win and it hasn’t been the case,” said Chris Boyd, Northampton’s director of rugby.
“The loss is painful, the fact it’s a local derby is painful, the fact we wanted to respect Rob Horne and we couldn’t get it across the line is also painful. It’s not a very happy changing room.”