Biggar puts the boot into Lyon as Saints get Champions Cup campaign off to a flying start

Biggar, who was making a welcome return from World Cup duty, racked up 20 points with the boot as his side secured a precious win against the current Top 14 leaders.

Rory Hutchinson produced a fine finish during the first half, which helped Saints to secure an impressive 19-0 lead at the break.

Lyon battled back after the interval, winning a succession of penalties that helped them to send replacement Thibaut Regard over on two occasions.

But it was too little, too late from the French side as they fell to defeat in Northampton.

Saints were desperate to get off to a flyer ahead of next Saturday’s trip to Treviso, where they will face a Benetton side who lost their curtain raiser at Leinster.

And the black, green and gold made a strong start to the match, with Teimana Harrison bursting through the middle before the ball was worked wide to Taqele Naiyaravoro, who was stopped just short.

But a penalty was coming and Biggar slotted it to make it 3-0 inside four minutes.

Saints were on the charge and they soon had a lineout deep in French territory, but Lyon stood tall and then produced a huge shove at the next scrum, winning a penalty.

However, Saints stole the lineout to keep the pressure on, eventually earning another shot at goal, which Biggar slotted with ease.

Lyon looked to have issued the perfect response when they crossed the Saints line, but the effort was ruled out for a knock-on in the build-up.

And on the 20-minute mark, Saints were the ones who grabbed the first try of the game as centre Hutchinson finished superbly, taking a tap tackle and rolling his way to the line.