Dylan Hartley, seen by many as England’s long-term answer at hooker, came off the bench to inspire Northampton to an opening-day victory on their return to the Guinness Premiership yesterday and give the club cause for optimism over the coming season.

With a match away to Newcastle Falcons, who lost at home to Sale Sharks yesterday, and then London Wasps, the champions, who lost at London Irish on Saturday, to come at home, there is every prospect of building a good platform, which will give them much-needed momentum.

Hartley had been incensed by Jim Mallinder’s decision to name him among the replacements, but whether it was clever man-mangement on the part of the director of rugby or a belief that Paul Shields was a better option, Hartley wasted little time in making an impact when he trotted on to widespread acclaim in the 49th minute.

With a deeply disappointing Worcester Warriors down to 14 men after Tom Wood had been sent to the sin-bin, Hartley took three minutes to make his considerable presence felt, bursting through Dale Rasmussen and Matt Powell to score a try with his long reach taking him over the line.

The England Saxons player, who has been rehabilitated after his suspension two years ago for gouging is being kept on a tight leash by Northampton, who do not want him exposed to any media scrutiny.

Explaining his decision not to start with the dynamic 22-year-old who was born in New Zealand, Mallinder said that Shields, on pre-season form, deserved his chance, but he acknowledged that Hartley is a special talent. “He is an all-rounder who can carry, run and pass. He does those things really well,” Mallinder said.

On the evidence of this woeful spectacle, the experimental law variations (ELV) will take some adapting to. Worcester traditionally favour structure and pattern, with the emphasis on a strong scrum and lineout and a powerful driven maul, which has been rendered virtually redundant.

They were less than comfortable with the fluidity that the ELVs bring with them and struggled to come to terms with the breakdown, where they came off their feet repeatedly, conceding a raft of penalties and free kicks. For all the money spent on their galácticos in the back division, Chris Latham being the latest expensive import, they never got into the game. They failed to generate momentum and were unable to control lineout possession. Northampton often poured through, making life hard for Powell, the scrum half whose service and confidence suffered and meant that Matthew Jones, the fly half in whom Mike Ruddock has great faith after capping him three years ago when coach of Wales, could not exert any influence.

Ruddock was frustrated and bemused by his team’s failure to adapt and no doubt the realisation that the ELVs will take time to come to terms with. “Only once could we generate genuine quick ball and we scored our try,” he said. It came in the 72nd minute, when Netani Talei put Sam Tuitupou into space and the pocket battleship of an inside centre seared through before Aleki Lutui brushed through three defenders, Hartley among them, to score. Jones kicked the conversion to take Worcester to 18-13 and a close finish seemed in prospect.

From the restart, however, Worcester came in from the side and Bruce Reihana popped over the penalty from ten metres to deny the Warriors even the consolation of a bonus point. Reihana had earlier kicked two other penalties, matched by Jones, which gave the visiting a 6-3 half-time lead. But Hartley’s timely intervention turned the game on its head and Jon Clarke’s well-executed try ensured a happy return for Northampton.

Scorers: Northampton: Tries: Hartley (52min), Clarke (66). Conversion: Reihana. Penalty goals: Reihana 3 (25, 49, 75). Worcester Warriors: Try: Lutui (72). Conversion: Jones. Penalty goals: Jones 2 (23, 27).

Scoring sequence (Northampton first): 0-3, 3-3, 3-6 (half-time), 6-6, 11-6, 18-6, 18-13, 21-13.

Northampton: B Reihana; C Ashton, J Clarke, J Downey, R Lamont; C Spencer, L Dickson (rep: B Foden 78); S Tonga’uiha (rep: T Smith 62), P Shields (rep: D Hartley 49), E Murray, I Fernández Lobbe (rep: M Lord, 70), C Day, N Best (rep: M Hopley, 68), S Gray, R Wilson.

Worcester Warriors: C Latham; R Gear, D Rasmussen, S Tuitupou, M Benjamin; M Jones, M Powell (rep: R Powell, 62); M Mullan, A Lutui, T Taumoepeau (rep: C Horsman, 57), G Rawlinson, C Gillies (rep: W Bowley, 62), N Talei, T Wood (sin-bin, 49-59; rep: J Collins, 59), K Horstmann.

Referee: S Davey.

Attendance: 13,094.