The occasion, dominated by the hometown forwards, was not without its controversy and at various stages Northampton had four men in the sinbin that due to the pressure Gloucester had poured at them.

They were also awarded the breathing space of uncontested scrums, despite having three front row forwards on the pitch. But they claimed a neck injury to England hooker Steve Thompson prevented him taking his place in the front row.

The decision only added to the drama but clearly infuriated head coach Dean Ryan, whose side were denied full value for a superior scrum and driving line-out.

Amid the card waving, whistle blowing and general mayhem, Gloucester found several men who rose above the challenge. Not only is Alex Brown their totem in the line-out, but his bone re-arranging defence in the wide channels was superlative. Jake Boer was relentless in his pursuit of work and James Forrester had little chance to express himself in open field, but got his hands dirty in the tight.

Closer to the action, Gary Powell, Patrice Collazo and Olivier Azam only fuelled the home fires and made a mess of the Saints at scrum-time.

There was also a returning try for James Simpson-Daniel, who intercepted a Bruce Reihana pass in the second half to speed away to the posts and eventually settle a contest that had swung away from the homeside due to carelessness in the first period.

Northampton found themselves 7-0 ahead after 12 minutes when Ludovic Mercier's kick failed to find touch and Carlos Spencer changed the shape of the match. He gathered his own lovely little chip and sent an inside pass off his left-hand to Thompson, who galloped to the line.

Gloucester then lost Rob Thirlby to a yellow card following more pressure from the Saints after good work by David Quinlan, Jon Clarke and Sean Lamont. But the home side got on terms after 18 minutes with a brilliant solo try.

They won a penalty 40 metres from the posts but instead of opting for the three points, Peter Richards tapped quickly and shot through a gap to score.

Mercier nudged Gloucester 13-7 ahead with two penalties but then Spencer, who was comfortably Northampton's best player, stole possession under the nose of Richards and burst upfield, linked with Quinlan and as Gloucester tried to get back and cover, Clarke took the scoring pass to score.

Spencer was involved again in first half stoppage time when the Saints established a 21-13 lead with a try from Damien Brown.

The home side had some serious work to do and upped the anti after the break. They drove a series of splintering line-outs deep into Northampton territory and with men heading to the sinbin at every break in play, Forrester's pick up and inside flick to Boer allowed the flanker to squeeze home following the first uncontested scrum.

Gloucester were mounting serious pressure through their forwards and when Simpson-Daniel sniffed the chance of pick-pocketing Reihana, the England wing got the better of Ben Cohen for pace to score after 65 minutes to take Gloucester 25-21 ahead.

There was still time for Mercier and Reihana to swap penalties and for Spencer to make a couple of delightful thrusts, but Gloucester held on to register their third win in four matches at the start of the season.

"This side is built on basics and when we do them well, we are a good side," Ryan said afterwards. "For 20 minutes after half-time, I thought we were excellent - that is what this side is all about.

"We were well organised through our driving line-outs and scrums but wanted full dividend for them. There are a number of factors we must improve on, but that is far easier when you are winning."