Saints youngsters shine under the Gardens lights as Tigers are slayed in cup opener

England Under-20s trio Henry Pollock, Archie McParland and George Makepeace-Cubitt were among a host of star performers in front of a big crowd at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens on Friday night.

Tigers had taken an early lead, but it was Saints who grabbed control after that as they dotted down five times, with 20-year-old full-back Ewan Baker among the scorers as he claimed his first try for the club.

Saints, who will also face Nottingham and Coventry home and away in Pool B, looked lively with ball in hand all night.

And the pedigree of players like Tarek Haffar and George Hendy was there for all to see on a night when Tigers were put to the sword.

Saints had thought they'd got off to a flying start as they pieced together a superb move that resulted in scrum-half McParland dotting down.

However, the TMO spotted a high tackle from Charlie Savala before Saints started their move, forcing referee Harry Walbaum to rule the score out and award a penalty to Tigers.

The away side were able to pile on the pressure, with Saints infringing time after time, allowing Tigers to keep knocking on the door.

And eventually it opened as Solomone Kata did well to offload to Malelili Satala, who scored close to the posts.

Jamie Shillcock converted but Saints were soon issuing a response.

The home side had been looking hungry and after fly-half Makepeace-Cubitt opted for a crossfield kick, Saints had their score.

The ball bounced kindly and Tigers couldn't deal with it, allowing Pollock to pounce as he jumped, gathered and scored.

Makepeace-Cubitt added the extras with ease and the scores were level with 16 minutes gone.

Tigers were down to 14 men when scrum-half Tom Whiteley was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on following a fine gather and run from his opposite number, McParland.

Saints wasted little time in making the extra man count as Pollock flew forward off the back of a scrum, drawing in defenders before Makepeace-Cubitt sent James Ramm over.

Makepeace-Cubitt converted again to make it 14-7 and there was plenty of huff and puff before Saints' third try arrived two minutes before the break.

Fyn Brown and Makepeace-Cubitt produced some tidy passing before Savala stepped in, showing off his footwork before releasing Tom Litchfield for the score on the left.

Makepeace-Cubitt was unable to land the conversion but the home side held a 12-point lead heading into half-time.

The opening 12 minutes of the second period were largely played in the middle of the field, with both sides battling for territory.

But Saints eventually started to take control again, with Pollock releasing Hendy, who sidestepped his way to the line to score the home side's bonus-point try.

Makepeace-Cubitt managed to convert just in time as Tigers tried to charge his kick down, and Saints led 26-7.

The away side were now hanging on as the black, green and gold continued to fly forward, with the impressive Haffar, Makepeace-Cubitt, Savala and Hendy helping to set up Baker for his first Saints try.

Saints thought they had another when Litchfield looked to finish off another fine move that included a Hollywood pass from Makepeace-Cubitt, but Shillcock got back to hold him up over the line.

And it was Tigers who had the final say as centre Will Wand finished off a rapid attack to take his team into double figures.

Shillock hit the left post with the conversion and Saints soon kicked the ball out to put the seal on a night in which their squad strength and Academy excellence came to the fore.

Saints: 15 George Hendy; 14 Mitieli Vulikijapani (guest player) (Jonny Weimann 60), 13 Tom Litchfield, 12 Charlie Savala, 11 Tom Seabrook (James Ramm 16 (Ewan Baker 51)); 10 George Makepeace-Cubitt, 9 Archie McParland; 1 Tarek Haffar (Emmanuel Iyogun 60), 2 Craig Wright (Nathan Langdon 64), 3 Luke Green (Sonny Tonga'uiha 67); 4 Chunya Munga (c), 5 Gavin Thornbury (Will Spencer 64); 6 Fyn Brown, 7 Angus Scott-Young (Josh Kemeny 60); 8 Henry Pollock.

Leicester Tigers: 15 George Pearson; 14 Malelili Satala (Tom Threlfall 70), 13 Will Wand, 12 Solomone Kata (Charlie Myall 60), 11 Jack Kinder; 10 Jamie Shillcock, 9 Tom Whiteley (Charlie Beamand 74); 1 James Whitcombe (Archie van der Flier 56), 2 Finn Theobald-Thomas (Archie Vanes 43), 3 Tim Hoyt (Henry Mountford 74); Côme Joussain, 5 Tom Manz (Lewis Chessum 56), 6 Matt Rogerson (c), 7 Emeka Ilione (Sam Williams 50), 8 Kyle Hatherell.

Referee: Harry Walbaum