Ruthless Horne is too good for Irish

ROB HORNE’S summer move to Northampton crept under the radar but the Australian was the centre of attention as Saints destroyed Premiership new boys London Irish. Horne, who has won 34 caps for the Wallabies, scored two tries with barnstorming runs where, if he did not get round opponents, he ran over them. Irish conceded six tries to add to the 10 they had conceded against Exeter and Sale, in front of a miserable crowd of 5,502. Horne formed a powerful midfield combination with Luther Burrell only broken when Burrell went off with a knee injury in the 63rd minute. Saints were home and hosed by then — they had wrapped up a bonus point by half-time — and moved up to third in the table. Horne’s style might be route one, in attack and defence, but it is just what Northampton needed after collapsing 55-24 to Saracens in their opening game. Director of rugby Jim Mallinder said: ‘Today he was outstanding — tough as nails. He has given us that bit of composure in defence and the punch when he has to make a tackle.’ Horne’s pair were sandwiched between Nic Groom’s touchdown on 92 seconds and a pushover try for hooker Mike Haywood, playing for the injured Dylan Hartley, after 33 minutes. Mallinder added: ‘That was just the start we had talked about — being direct and physical.’ Irish hit back after the break, with three scores from wing Alex Lewington, full-back Tommy Bell and flanker Josh McNally. But George North’s run-in and Cobus Reinach’s long-range score had already put the game out of sight.