Northampton made it five wins in a row with a hard slog in the rain against Gloucester at Franklins Gardens.

They cashed in when Gloucester hooker Chris Fortey was sin-binned just before half-time for deliberately killing the ball.

While the Cherry and Whites were down to 14 men, Saints were awarded a 47th-minute penalty try when the scrum went down close to the line.

Fly-half Ali Hepher added the conversion to give Northampton breathing space for the first time at 16-8.

Hepher, starting ahead of England's fly-half Paul Grayson had earlier kicked three first-half penalties to restore the lead for the home side after Audley Lumsden had put Gloucester ahead with a 38th-minute try - beautifully executed off the back of a scrum.

Saints have now made themselves early-season title contenders, but they made the most of the sin-bin ruling which has seen referees punish the last three sides to visit the Gardens.