A four-try haul from Tommy Freeman sealed a dramatic 43-31 for Northampton Saints, as they closed out the first block of Gallagher PREM matches unbeaten and stay top of the pile.
Saints flew out to the blocks again in Round 5, sending George Hendy, Tom Pearson and Tommy Freeman over for to build up a 17-0 lead; but after Saracens scored a quick brace, things got harder for Northampton when repeated infringements saw Pearson sent to the sin bin.
Saracens sandwiched half-time with a pair of tries to see them pull ahead for the first time in the match, but the lead was short-lived as Pearson completed his brace and Freeman added his second, third and fourth scores to seal Saints’ fifth consecutive win.
FIRST-HALF:
Freeman was the catalyst that got Saints on their front foot early doors, with the British & Irish Lions winger steaming up the right wing and bumping his way into Saracens’ 22 before Northampton sent the ball back the other way for Fin Smith to send a deft grubber through for Hendy to chase and dot down.
Saints added a second just ten minutes later when Smith sent yet another perfectly-weighted grubber through; this time the bouncing ball went loose as it crossed the tryline, and with Saracens’ Max Malins unable to scoop it up, that left space for Pearson to dive in and score.
Freeman eventually got himself off mark for Northampton’s third, when fast hands from Smith putting Hendy into space and allowing the fullback to draw the man and put Saints’ winger over in the corner.
But Saracens hit back with two well-worked scores on the half-hour mark; first sending Nick Tompkins through a gap to put fly-half Fergus Burke over, before Burke turned assister and sent a grubber of his own through to put Jack Bracken over on the left.
Life got harder for Saints when – after a series of eight consecutive penalties against them – Pearson was the man sent to the sin bin for the repeat offences. And Saracens quickly made the most of their extra man, sending Juan Martin Gonzalez over from close range after taking their penalty quickly.
Burke’s conversion would be the last act of the first half and put Saracens in the lead for the first time, sending the teams into the interval with the score 17-19 in favour of the away team.
SECOND HALF:
Saracens bookended half-time with their bonus-point score, pushing themselves close before Hugh Tizard crashed over from close range to make it 17-26.
But with Pearson returned from the sin bin and Saints back to 15, the home side were soon back up to speed. Henry Pollock intercepted a Saracens pass on the halfway line and flew up to the 22 before finding Pearson on his shoulder. Saints looked sure to score but for a deliberate knock on from Saracens’ Marco Riccioni.
Referee Anthony Woodthorpe showed the Italian prop a yellow card and Saints made short work of sending back rower Pearson over from close range for his second of the night.
Smith’s conversion brought the game within two and Freeman put Saints back ahead on the hour, with a string of penalties getting Northampton close before the winger rounded the corner to cross just left of the posts.
The hat-trick came for Freeman not long after, when huge pressure from Saints eventually left space open for Smith and Hutchinson to switch the direction of Saints attack and feed the waiting winger out wide.
A crucial conversion from Smith put the score to 38-26 in Saints’ favour but Saracens hit back, with Charlie Bracken taking a penalty quickly to jink through the line of defence and put Malins over.
Saints and Freeman weren’t done yet though, and a trade-mark link up between England’s fly-half and winger saw Smith send a crossfield kick over to the waiting Freeman for his fourth of the match.
The men in Black, Green and Gold take a break from Gallagher PREM as they head back into the PREM Rugby Cup, with Harlequins the visitors to cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens next Saturday (1 November, kick-off: 7.45pm).
LINE-UPS:
Saints: 15 Hendy, 14 Freeman, 13 Hutchinson, 12 Dingwall (c), 11 Todaro, 10 F Smith, 9 Mitchell; 1 Fischetti, 2 R Smith, 3 Davison, 4 Lockett, 5 Van Der Mescht, 6 Coles, 7 Pearson, 8 Pollock.
Replacements: 16 Wright, 17 Iyogun, 18 Luke Green, 19 Ed Prowse, 20 Callum Chick, 21 Archie McParland, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Tom Litchfield.
Saracens: 15 Max Malins, 14 Noah Caluori, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jack Bracken, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Charlie Bracken; 1 Eroni Mawi, 2 Theo Dan, 3 Marco Riccioni, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 5 Hugh Tizard, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Andy Onyeama-Christie, 8 Tom Willis
Replacements: 16 James Hadfield, 17 Rhys Carre, 18 Marcus Street, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Theo McFarland, 21 Ben Earl, 22 Gareth Simpson, 23 Angus Hall.