James Pater’s last-minute conversion sealed Northampton Saints a dramatic 35-33 victory over Saracens in the final PREM Rugby Cup pool round.
The sides scored two tries apiece in the opening 40 minutes, with Saints sending James Ramm and then George Furbank over in answer to Saracens’ efforts from Olly Hartley and Nick Tompkins.
The men in Black, Green and Gold made hard work of the second half, letting Saracens back into the game as they sent Theo Dan and the Rotimi Segun over in quick succession, before adding an intercept from Brandon Jackson to give themselves a 21-33 lead.
Chunya Munga stellar solo-effort marked Saints’ third in the middle of Saracens’ tries, but it was left to the final five minutes of the match for Rory Hutchinson, George Hendy and James Pater to produce the dramatics and seal Saints the victory – with the trio combining for two stellar Hendy scores before Pater’s clutch conversion sealed the win.
FIRST HALF
Saracens got off the mark first, when Hartley burst through Saints’ defence early doors and stepped his way in under the posts.
A first conversion from Alex Lozowski put the away side 0-7 up, but Saints were soon level. A big hit from 17-year-old Jack Lewis dislodged Saracens’ possession and Saints pounced on the loose ball – it came wide right and Furbank pulled the ball back neatly to a sprinting Ramm. The winger had plenty of ground still to cover but won the footrace to the line to bring the game level.
Saracens got their second on the counterattack, with Tompkins breaking through and putting the ball on his boot. Saints’ defence scrambled back but gaps opened up and eventually it was Tompkins who sliced through to finish the move he started.
More spilled Saracens ball gave Saints their response. Tom Litchfield scooped it up before the ball was quickly shifted to the right once more, and this time it was Furbank who was the final man out wide.
Pater’s touchline conversion made it 14-14 and though Northampton thought they’d pulled ahead after half an hour, their effort from close range was to be deemed held up over the whitewash and the teams entered the sheds at level pegging.
SECOND HALF
Saracens were first on the scoresheet in the second half as they were in the first, pulling ahead when they sent Dan over at the back of a driving maul and then had another when Rotimi Segun was left unmarked on his wing.
With the scores at 14-26, Saints unloaded their bench and they were back on the scoreboard instantly. Now-captain Munga produced a glorious solo score, scooping up a bouncing ball in the midfield and galloped free before he reached over the whitewash for Northampton’s third.
Pater added his third conversion to bring the deficit to seven and it would stay that way until the game’s 73rd minute when an interception gave Jackson the chance to race clear and put Saracens 21-33 up.
Saints supporters would be forgiven for thinking that with just five minutes left on the clock, the game was then done. But those who chanced their luck to beat the crowds with an early exit will be sorely disappointed to have missed what came next.
Replacement fullback Hendy’s entrance from the bench sparked some much-needed life back into Saints’ attack and it was a stellar break from him that put Northampton back on the front foot. Having slipped free of Saracens’ line inside his own half, Hendy screamed through his opposition’s remaining defenders before finding Hutchinson on his shoulder for the bonus-point score.
And the best was yet to come. Pater’s conversion of Hutchinson’s effort had made it 28-33 and secured Northampton the third ranked spot in the semi-finals they were chasing, but Saints stayed on attack. Fly-half Pater tipped the ball onto Hendy once more and the 23-year-old set off on the sprint again, this time dummying his way to the line himself from some 80 metres out.
cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens quieted their raucous rapture quickly as Pater set up for the conversion out on the left. The 19-year-old fly-half showed maturity beyond his years to calm his nerves and once the clock was in the red, dutifully sent the conversion over from the touchline to seal Saints a dramatic win.
Saints now head to Exeter Chiefs in the PREM Rugby Cup semi-finals, running out at Sandy Park on Sunday 8 March (kick-off: 1.30pm). For full details on when tickets for this clash go on sale CLICK HERE.
LINE-UPS
SAINTS: 15 George Furbank, 14 James Ramm, 13 Tom Litchfield, 12 Toby Thame, 11 James Martin, 10 James Pater, 9 Tom James; 1 Tom West, 2 Craig Wright, 3 Cleopas Kundiona, 4 Chunya Munga, 5 JJ Van Der Mescht, 6 Tom Lockett, 7 Jack Lewis, 8 Callum Chick (c).
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Emmanuel Iyogun, 18 Luke Green, 19 James Bennett, 20 Tom Pearson, 21 Jonny Weimann, 22 Rory Hutchinson, 23 George Hendy.
SARACENS: 15 Luke Davidson, 14 Tobias Elliott, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Olly Hartley, 11 Brandon Jackson, 10 Alex Lozowski, 9 Gareth Simpson; 1 Phil Brantingham, 2 Theo Dan, 3 Harvey Beaton, 4 Nick Isiekwe, 5 Hugh Tizard, 6 Theo McFarland, 7 Andy Onyeama-Christie, 8 Nathan Michelow (c).
Replacements: 16 James Hadfield, 17 Alex O'Driscoll, 18 Tietie Tuimauga, 19 Tayo Adegbemile, 20 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 21 Ivan van zyl, 22 Lucio Cinti, 23 Rotimi Segun.