The champions are gone; the league leaders march on. It was a choke tackle at the end that finally finished Saracens off, initiated by none other than Courtney Lawes, playing his final match at Franklin’s Gardens. With it Northampton thwarted a last-gasp comeback by one of the country’s champion teams, so many of whom were also playing their last game.
So the English game says farewell, for now at least, to some of its most decorated players. Owen Farrell heads off to France without that last gong, so too the Vunipola brothers. The Saints defence was unyielding throughout, subjected to all Saracens could throw at them. Two interventions of the highest class by Farrell earned the visitors two second-half tries, the second by Lucio Cinti with just the one minute on the clock. But Saracens’ hunt for the kick of any kind that would have snatched an outrageous win even by their standards was snuffed out by the home defence.
Defeat here would have been too much for Northampton, having lit up this season so richly and progressed so far in Europe.
Northampton are no doubt still dogged by the amount of time they took to find any kind of rhythm in their previous semi-final, against Leinster in Dublin. For those that missed that one, it was about an hour. This time, happily, they were on familiar territory for the visit of another pedigree team in a semi-final.
Sure enough, Saracens tore into them for most of the first 20 minutes. No doubt chastened by their own mystery non-appearance – the home defeat to Sale in the final round of the regular season that meant they had to come here in the first place – the visitors looked in the mood. Plenty of teams – one thinks of Harlequins at the Tottenham Stadium in March – might have capitulated, but Saints managed to restrict them to just two penalties in that period, both kicked by Elliot Daly.
More encouragingly still for Northampton, they were the first to cross the whitewash, at nearly the first time of asking. Cinti kicked loosely to Alex Mitchell, and the Saints were away on the counter. It looked as Burger Odendaal had butchered an overlap, but his decision to dummy made a valuable dent. When, a few phases later, George Furbank made a half-break, the full-back’s fabulous off-load put Odendaal on another muscular tilt for the line. This one he completed comfortably for the game’s first try.
Saracens were edging matters at the breakdown, winning a slew of penalties there across the middle of the match. They thought they had scored their first try, five minutes after Northampton’s, when Jamie George was worked over from a short line-out, but it was ruled out by the TMO. George was in front of Ivan van Zyl as the latter chipped ahead.
The game was fast and brutal, nip and tuck, but Saints pulled further away on the approach to half-time, as Saracens started to lose their breakdown mojo. They conceded three penalties, each one slotted impressively by Fin Smith.
Saracens responded by introducing four substitutes 10 minutes into the second half. The pace of their game increased, and they soon had their first try. Inevitably, the breakthrough came courtesy of Farrell. He had already sent Maro Itoje crashing into the home defence, when he dummied, broke and chipped in the blink of an eye. And what a chip. The ball sat up invitingly for Alex Lewington to finish.
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The game was in the balance again, Saracens just the three behind. Ollie Sleightholme, relatively quiet until then, went on a crazy, skilful medley of three hacks ahead, only two minutes later, but the ball just eluded him as it bobbled over the dead-ball line.
Smith missed his first kick on the hour, before some brilliance by Mitchell elicited even more from Juan Martín González. England’s scrum-half seemed to have worked himself clear with a brilliant reverse pass to Fraser Dingwall, who returned the ball to him for a seeming run-in. But, no, González, a put-upon flanker no less, managed to run him down with a brilliant cover tackle.
But if Saracens had the favour of the referee at the breakdown, they most certainly did not at the scrum. To begin with there was no obvious reason why, but as the second half wore on Northampton’s scrum established a clear edge. Smith sent the penalties to the corner, or, with 10 minutes remaining, through the posts. After another penalty a few minutes into the final quarter, that took Saints more than a score clear.
Saracens came again, of course. With one minute to go, Cinti was over. Saracens sent a penalty to the corner and then sent runners crashing into the home defence from all angles. Farrell’s flat pass was the key. Daly took it and sent the Argentine centre, playing most of the match on the wing, over out wide. Daly’s conversion set up the finale, but Northampton’s defence finished the job.