Saints alive as Leinster crash out of Champions Cup in semi-final epic
SAINTS GO MARCHING IN: Tommy Freeman of Northampton Saints dives over to score his side's first try. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile.
Losing the last three Champions Cup finals was pure torment for Leinster. This may actually be worse.
That they added so richly to one of the greatest Champions Cup contests of all time won’t act as any manner of salve.
Heavy favourites to become the first team to make four straight deciders in this 30-year old tournament, the lights went out three weeks earlier than expected on the back of an electric Northampton Saints effort that peaked with three tries inside nine first-half minutes.
The England trio of Fin Smith, Tommy Freeman and the young Henry Pollock were already stars. They went supernova with their performances here. Freeman claimed a hat-trick and Pollock basically announced himself to anyone still somehow unaware of his class.
This was basically a rerun of Muster’s epic joust with Wasps at this ground 21 years ago and, yet again the English opposition squeaked through at the end of it all. Leinster were inches from the try line at the end but couldn’t get over one more time.
That’s how close it was in a ten-try game. Pure heartbreak.
This is beyond devastating for Leinster. They have brought in top coaches in Jacques Nienaber – whose defence was shredded here – and Tyler Bleyendaal and added world-class players in Jordie Barrett, RG Snyman and Rabah Slimani.
And still they’ve fallen short. Again.
All sorts of questions will trail this. Questions about the management’s approach and future, and the mental strength of their players. Another – how this will affect the makeup of the British and Irish Lions squad – will be answered by Andy Farrell in London on Thursday.
The opening was frantic, lots of kicking and little shape. Northampton struck first, Freeman getting the first of his tries after the Saints ran back a Prendergast kick to deep through a broken field and the England wing latched on to a chip kick from Smith.
It was a brilliant, beautiful move, over in a split second, and it came as a warning of what was to come. It was also the first score Leinster had conceded in this competition since Finn Russell converted a try halfway through their last pool game.
A 209-minute snap without being breached, shattered.
Prendergast got Leinster on the board with a penalty shortly after and Leinster seemed to have found their feet on the restart when Tommy O’Brien kicked and chased them into the 22 to lay siege for the first time.
That ended with O’Brien going over in the corner on the back of a lovely, long pass from his out-half. The conversion was missed to leave it 8-7 to Leinster before Josh van der Flier claimed a second after some brilliant improvisation from Max Deegan.
The extra two points followed, as did a yellow card for Saints hooker Curtis Langdon for the team’s repeated infringements. This was much better. Surely now order would be restored and Leinster could put a stubborn opponent to bed.
Not a chance.
There were 29 minutes played at this point and what followed beggared belief with Northampton landing a trio of body blows on the favourites through a Pollock try and two more from the flying Freeman.
Like their opener, all three were claimed in a flash. Pollock tore through the line and between Prendergast and the sideline for his. Freeman’s pair came from a silky smooth team move and a rapid counter from a breaking ball in the midfield.
The only down side for the Saints were two missed conversions but the gap at the break was still a dozen points. Not quite the 16 that Leinster bridged so successfully against this side in the 2011 decider a mountain in need of climbing all the same.
It didn’t start well. Knock-ons from Prendergast and Caelan Doris delayed the recovery process but the latter got himself on the scoreboard seven minutes after the restarts that was all bludgeon compared to the Saints’ swords.
Prendergast’s kick shaved the deficit to just eight points and the crowd and then van der Flier claimed his second, this one from a lineout maul, which shrank the gap to just three after Prendergast’s difficult kick drifted wide.
A star-studded bench was emptied. On came Jordie Barrett, Jack Conan, Ryan Baird, Ronan Kelleher and more after the break. The crowd bayed every win, big or small, but the Saints again demonstrated their ability to strike from nowhere.
This time it was full-back James Ramm trotting over on another overlap after a perfectly executed raid into the blue 22 and the added pair of points rebounded their lead out to ten points with just 17 minutes to go.
This one was going to the wire.
Saints flanker Josh Kemeny earned ten minutes in the sinbin for a high shot on Slimani and the perfect end game was set up when James Lowe went over in the left corner off a quick tap move that was decorated by a brilliant Prendergast conversion.
Three points in it now. Ten to go.
The ending topped everything that came before it, van der Flier coming within inches of the line, Ross Byrne actually touching down after a spill, the TMO ruling it out after an interminable wait and that still wasn’t it.
Alex Coles was shown the line after the lengthy delay but then Leinster coughed up their last chance with a quick tap that went wrong and that allowed Saints to play out the clock.
What a game, what a win and what a way to win – and lose – it.
H Keenan, T O’Brien, G Ringrose, R Henshaw, J Lowe; S Prendergast, J Gibson-Park; C Healy, D Sheehan, T Furlong; RG Snyman, J McCarthy; M Deegan, J van der Flier, C Doris.
A Porter for Healy (20); J Conan for Deegan (44); J Barrett for Henshaw (50); R Slimani for Furlong (54); R Baird for Doris (57); R Kelleher for Sheehan (64); R Byrne for Prendergast (77); S Prendergast for O’Brien (80).
J Ramm; T Freeman, F Dingwall), R Hutchinson, T Litchfield; F Smith, A Mitchell; E Iyogun, C Langdon, T Davison; T Mayanavanua, A Coles; J Kemeny, H Pollock, J Augustus.
H Walker for Litchfield (32-36); E Millar Mills for Davison (49); T West for Iyogun (61); T James for Mitchell (64-)T Lockett for Mayanavanua (65); A Scott-Young for Litchfield (68).
P Brousset (France).
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
