Archie McParland bagged himself the Player of the Match award for his 53-minute involvement in a barmy night at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, that saw Northampton Saints pull off a record-breaking 94-33 victory over Bristol Bears.
The scrum-half scored two of Saints’ 14 tries, which would equal the highest number they had ever managed in a league match. And that was far from being the only record that fell in Round 16 of the Gallagher PREM, with McParland’s first effort providing five of Northampton’s 61 first-half points.
That was the most scored before half-time by any side in the PREM to date, with the breathless 40 minutes of rugby seeing George Hendy, Rory Hutchinson, Callum Chick, Alex Coles, George Furbank and Josh Kemeny all go over alongside the scrum-half.
“That first half was absolutely exhausting,” McParland explained. “It’s just so exciting to play in this team. When we get front-foot ball and everything’s alive, when we’re just playing what we see, it’s great.
“It was a special performance from us. We were very disappointed last weekend, and it was great to be able to show the fans and ourselves what we’re really about.
