Poor old Martin Johnson. He goes up to Sale on Friday night and watches Mark Cueto further complicate England's options at full-back, then Ben Foden does exactly the same a day later, right before the eyes of Brian Smith, England's attack coach. Add in further contenders – Olly Morgan, Nick Abendanon and Mike Brown – and the fact that some people think Danny Cipriani would be best at No15, not forgetting that the one good thing to come out of the autumn internationals was Delon Armitage, the new kid at, yes, full-back, and you see the dilemma he is in.
Full-backs, full-backs everywhere, and not a prop to pick, he might lament. It will probably not be Foden just yet but he must have thrust himself into contention for a place in the new senior squad, announced on Wednesday. He moved to Northampton this summer precisely because he did not want to carry on playing at full-back, as Sale, his previous club, insisted he should. He has turned out a few times this season at scrum-half but he insists on having a blinder whenever he is given the No15 shirt.
He was excellent on Saturday: pacy, audacious, the scorer of the third of Northampton's three tries and the provider for the first, both of them exhibitions in running lines, handling and pace, as was their second. This was an excellent Saints performance from Nos1 to 15, and they remain the only team in the Premiership this season with an unbeaten home record – not bad for their first season back in the top flight. Do not be fooled by the closeness of the scoreline. Northampton boasted all the game's best performers. The encouraging news for Johnson is that most of them were English, young and very quick, including fly-half Stephen Myler who excelled.
Toby Flood scored all Leicester's points, snatching a try in the 60th minute. But a first-half brace from Paul Diggin – another fiendishly quick Englishman who ran riot – and Foden's score, a beauty in the 50th minute, had by then established Northampton a 17-6 lead. It was a scoreline that had not done them justice, still less the one at the final whistle.
Northampton Foden; Diggin, Clarke, Downey (Mayor, 77), Lamont; Myler, Dickson (Reihana, 72); Smith (Tonga'uiha, 53), Hartley, Murray, Fernandez Lobbe (capt), Kruger, Easter, Gray, Hopley.
Tries Diggin 2, Foden. Con Myler.
Leicester G Murphy; J Murphy (Hamilton, h-t), Rabeni, Mauger (capt), Smith; Flood, Dupuy (Youngs, 62); Stankovich (Castrogiovanni, 55), Chuter, White, Wentzel (Corry, 55), Kay, Croft, Herring (Newby, 62), B Deacon.
Try Flood. Con Flood. Pens Flood 2.
Referee W Barnes (Gloucestershire). Attendance 13,582.
