Northampton Saints secured a spot in the Investec Champions Cup quarter-final stages for the third year in a row with a 49-41 victory against Castres.
Saints ran in six tries and were awarded one penalty try in the 90-point thriller at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens. Castres flew out of the blocks with two early tries and a penalty; however, after the visitors fell to 13 men courtesy of two yellow cards, Saints brought the game back to trail by just one point at the break.
The game blew wide open during the second period with Saints scoring early through Josh Kemeny and Tommy Freeman, only for Castres to reply with two of their own in quick succession. Saints then came back through Archie McParland and captain George Furbank, but Castres kept fighting till the death with two more tries – leaving it just an eight-point victory come the final whistle.
First Half
Castres struck first just shy of the ten minute mark following a scrum; scrum-half Jeremy Fernandez picked from the base and put a nicely weighted grubber in behind, which sat up beautifully for winger Christian Ambadiang to finish in the far corner.
The visitors had their second just a couple of minutes after, launching on the counterattack as they found an edge and offloaded inside and out until fullback Theo Chabouni eventually dove over.
Saints almost replied in gorgeous attacking fashion with James Ramm going over for a diving finish in the corner, but his foot was ruled to be in touch in the act of scoring following a TMO review.
But the men in Black, Green and Gold flew straight back downfield with Kemeny making a brilliant line break, giving the offload to McParland, who was tackled from behind illegally – and Northampton were awarded a penalty try with Ambadiang shown yellow.
The game intensified, with Castres shown a second yellow a few minutes later, with lock Guillaume Ducat sent to the bin for a dangerous clear out on Henry Pollock.
Castres did their best to wind down the clock, opting to take the three when given the opportunity shortly after Ducat’s departure, but Northampton made the most of the two-man advantage, striking through Italian international Danilo Fischetti on a hard line.
The visitors went back to a full complement, and Saints went into the sheds trailing by just one point at the break.
Second Half
Saints came out of the blocks firing in the second half, with Kemeny finishing off an excellent kick return from Furbank and McParland to take Saints into the lead for the first time in the match.
The men in Black, Green and Gold seemed to be hitting their attacking flow and crossed for their second of the half with ten minutes played. Saints won a scrum penalty, which allowed Anthony Belleau to kick to the corner, from which the Saints maul started rumbling until the ball eventually came out wide to Freeman, who finished in the corner.
But just as Saints finally felt like they were getting into their groove, Castres struck back, with Saints attempting to clear their lines from the restart, only for openside Tyler Ardron to pick off a pass for an intercept try, followed shortly after by a try from Vuate Karawalevu – who hit a hard line from a scrum and smashed over bringing it back to a one-point game.
In a game of back-and-forth, it was Saints’ turn to respond with a nice set move off a scrum, allowing Club Captain Furbank to run a gorgeous line to dive over the whitewash himself. It was followed by another from Gallagher PREM player of the month nominee, McParland, finishing off some nice interplay in midfield to extend Saints’ lead.
But once again, just when the Saints thought they had a bit of daylight on the scoreboard, the travelling French side came back again. After a break down the wing got them into the red zone, it was eventually finished from close range by Vilimoni Botitu.
Castres were shown yellow for the third time in the match, with Veresa Ramototabua sent to the bin for a high shot on McParland, and Saints immediately capitalised with Dingwall finishing another in the corner.
Castres were throwing all caution to the wind, however were struggling to convert their attempts into more points on the scoreboard until eventually Ambadiang raced downfield for his second of the match in the 79th minute.
However, it wasn’t enough for the French side as the men in Black, Green and Gold ended the contest with an eight-point buffer and will face either Bath or Saracens in the quarter-finals next weekend.
Line-ups:
Saints: 15 George Furbank (c), 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Tom Litchfield, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 James Ramm, 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Archie McParland; 1 Danilo Fischetti, 2 Craig Wright, 3 Luke Green, 4 Tom Lockett, 5 JJ Van Der Mescht, 6 Josh Kemeny, 7 Henry Pollock, 8 Callum Chick.
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Tom West, 18 Cleopas Kundiona, 19 Ed Prowse, 20 Chunya Munga, 21 Tom Pearson, 22 Jonny Weiman, 23 Rory Hutchinson.
Castres: 15 Theo Chabouni, 14 Christian Ambadiang, 13 Vilimoni Botitu, 12 Jack Goodhue, 11 Vuate Karawalevu, 10 Enzo Herve, 9 Jeremy Fernandez; 1 Quentin Walcker, 2 Teddy Durand-Pradere, 3 Nicolas Corato, 4 Guillaume Ducat, 5 Florent Vanverberghe, 6 Baptiste Delaporte (c), 7 Tyler Ardron, 8 Abraham Papalii.
Replacements: 16 Pierre Colonna, 17 Lois Guerois-Galisson, 18 Aurelien Azar, 19 Gauthier Maravat, 20 Baptiste Cope, 21 Veresa Ramototabua, 22 Santiago Arata, 23 Geoffrey Palis.