George Furbank‘s late try ensured Northampton Saints secured a dramatic 36-32 win at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens and a home semi-final clash in the Gallagher PREM.
Gloucester struck first through Deian Gwynne and Ollie Thorley, but Saints responded with two scores in quick succession as George Hendy and Fin Smith both crossed the whitewash.
Charlie Atkinson hit back for Gloucester, but it was the 200-appearance man, Rory Hutchinson, who dotted down to bring the scores level at the break.
The second half was a cagier affair with both sides continuing to swap tries; Ben Loader and Max Llewellyn going over for the Cherry and Whites, and Tommy Freeman and Sam Graham for Saints.
Gloucester opted to take three points on offer in the late stages to take the lead, but in dramatic fashion, it was Saints’ skipper Furbank who sailed over to secure the late win for Saints and a home semi-final.
First Half
Gloucester dominated early possession and territory, forcing multiple penalties out of Saints inside their own 22 until eventually Emmanuel Iyogun was sent to the bin for ten minutes – and the visitors finally got their reward with Gwynne rumbling over at the back of the resulting driving maul.
They added their second just seconds before Saints returned to a full complement, this time whipping the ball out wide from a maul out to Thorley, who ran it into the corner.
Saints responded with some quick thinking from Ed Prowse, who spotted that the ball was out at the bottom of the Gloucester ruck and got the ball away to Hendy, who showed the covering defenders a clean pair of heels for an excellent finish.
Just moments later, the men in Black, Green and Gold launched from deep in sensational attacking fashion. They received the kick-off and executed efficiently, getting the ball out to the edge from inside their own half with passes going inside and out until eventually Fin Smith finished it off under the posts to take the lead for the first time in the game.
That lead did not last long as Gloucester switched down the short side, and Caolan Englefield ghosted into space and put Charlie Atkinson away to finish for the visitors.
On the occasion of his 200th appearance for the Club, Hutchinson finished off Saints’ third of the afternoon, dotting down a lovely weighted grubber through from Smith for his 39th try in Saints colours – taking the score level heading into the break at 19 points apiece.
Second Half
With the score level, the opening ten minutes of the second period were a cagey affair. Gloucester finally got their try from Loader in the corner, but Saints responded in flashy fashion as Pearson got the initial break and the Coles got the ball out to Freeman, who finished in the corner – equalling the Club record for the most tries in a PREM season in the process.
The Cherry and Whites struck back as Llewellyn, finding a gap, hit a hard line off a scrum to slide over, only for Saints to come back once again.
This time it was through Graham, who hit a hard line close to the whitewash and with the conversion, Saints had a narrow two-point lead heading into the final ten minutes of the game.
Gloucester opted for three points when Saints were penalised to take the lead in the 76th minute.
But never count out the men in Black, Green and Gold with a sold-out cinch Stadium behind them, and as Smith flicked a pass to put Furbank through a gap, it was the Club captain who sealed another dramatic win with moments of the match remaining.
Line-ups:
SAINTS: 15 George Furbank (c), 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Tom Litchfield, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 George Hendy, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Archie McParland; 1 Emmanuel Iyogun, 2 Robbie Smith, 3 Luke Green, 4 Alex Coles, 5 Ed Prowse, 6 Tom Pearson, 7 Henry Pollock, 8 Callum Chick.
Replacements: 16 Craig Wright, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Tom Lockett, 20 Sam Graham, 21 Jonny Weimann, 22 Fraser Dingwall, 23 James Ramm
GLOUCESTER: 15 Ben Redshaw, 14 Ollie Thorley, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Seb Atkinson (c), 11 Ben Loader, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Caolan Englefield; 1 Ciaran Knight, 2 Seb Blake, 3 Afo Fasogbon, 4 Arthur Clark, 5 Freddie Thomas, 6 Deian Gwynne, 7 Jame Venter, 8 Will Trenholm.
Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Mikey Austin, 22 Will Knight, 23 Josiah Edwards-Giraud.