American forward Samu Manoa put in a Man of the Match performance as Northampton Saints dominated Harlequins last Friday. The league leaders went down 24-3 to a Saints performance that was typified by the two tackles featured below.
Northampton outplayed Quins with a physical and disciplined approach that was too much for the visitors to handle at Franklins Gardens. US Eagle Samu Manoa was dominant in the tight loose and put in this crunching hit late in the game, adding to his growing reputation among the Saints fans.
Not too long ago he was an amateur player in the US but since joining Saints grown in stature and seems to improve with every game, shrugging off the pressure of professional rugby.
"Like my dad says, 'you got to take care of yourself, practice hard, play hard, and hit hard''. Everybody’s watching you, so you got to go hard," he said recently.
Replacement Mike Haywood followed the same mantra and it was fitting that the game ended with another crunching tackle as Northampton never let up and continued to knock Quins backwards right up to the final whistle.
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