Peter Jackson: Northampton Saints turn into sinners

Northampton ought to be charged with bringing the Champions’ Cup into disrepute for their shameful Brexit, a European surrender probably without precedent in Anglo-Irish sport.

They arrived in Dublin with a weakened team ripe for capitulation against opponents more than capable of applying the guillotine. Leinster, never slow to recognise a white flag when they see one, turned up the heat and gave the Saints what they deserved, a Christmas roasting.

Nine tries and 60 points ensured the humiliation invited by the English club’s calculated decision to leave five front-line internationals behind. In doing so, they short-changed more than the near 40,000 at the Aviva Stadium who bought their tickets on the reasonable assumption that they were paying to see a contest.