Northampton got their first win of the season as they beat London Irish 38-22.

Irish survived their period with three fewer men, but Ollie Sleightholme and Alex Mitchell scored soon after.

Will Joseph crossed for Irish before they got a penalty try, but George Furbank's score ended any Exiles hopes.

Ollie Hassell-Collins added a last-second consolation try for the visitors but Phil Dowson earned his first win since taking over as Northampton director of rugby, while Irish suffered defeat for the first time -having beaten financially stricken Worcester 45-14 last week.

Saints managed it without Wales fly-half Dan Biggar, who had been due to skipper the side for the first time but missed out through illness.

Augustus crossed in the corner after some superb build-up play by scrum-half Mitchell, who chipped over the defence before a perfect pass to the South African.

Injuries to Irish pair Facundo Gigena and Adam Coleman saw lengthy stoppages before the visitors ended the half with 12 men after a dramatic finish to the period - first Adam Pearson was yellow-carded after a high hit in the build-up to a disallowed try by Arundell, which ended with James Grayson kicking a Saints penalty.

Arundell was then sin-binned for preventing a try-scoring opportunity, and Rob Simmons was given 10 minutes' rest for collapsing a maul in the final moments.

Despite being three men down Irish actually out-scored Saints thanks to Paddy Jackson's penalty soon after the break - but at 15-a-side Sleightholme cruised in after a nice team move, before an excellent dummy from Mitchell opened up a gap in the Exiles defence and Grayson added another penalty.

But Joseph went in at the corner after a lovely break by Irish, before a deliberate knock-on Grayson with 14 minutes left saw him go to the sin-bin and referee Luke Pearce award a penalty try to bring the Exiles back into it.

However, Furbank's penalty moved Saints 13 points clear, before he went over under the posts after good work by Alex Coles to seal the bonus-point victory, and then added another penalty before Hassell-Collins' very late try.

Northampton: Furbank; Sleightholme, Proctor, Hutchinson, Collins; J Grayson, Mitchell; Wallace, Matavesi, Hill, Salakaia-Loto, Moon, Coles, Hinkley, Augustus.

Replacements: Haywood, Iyogun, Petch, Nansen, Scott-Young, Braley, Litchfield, Skosan.

London Irish: Arundell; Loader, Rona, Janse Van Rensburg, Hassell-Collins; Jackson, White; Gigena, Cornish, Chawatama, Simmons, Coleman, Donnell, Pearson, Rogerson.

Replacements:Miller, Fischetti, Parker, Ratuniyarawa, Cunningham-South, Englefield, Morisi, Joseph.

Referee: Luke Pearce