Northampton Saints spoiled the party at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with a late try from Archie McParland sealing a nail-biting 21-17 victory.
An early try from Tom Litchfield set the tone with a quintessential McParland finish coming shortly after. The hosts registered their first score through winger Tobias Elliott with their first entry into Saints’ 22, but Northampton entered the sheds at the break with the one try lead.
An early try in the second half from Theo Dan levelled the scoreboard, and a penalty from Fergus Burke gave Saracens what looked like a victory, but in dramatic fashion, McParland finished off a late try to steal the win for the men in Black, Green and Gold.
First half
Sounds of the travelling Saints faithful were ringing around Tottenham Hotspur Stadium from minute one, willing on the men in Black, Green and Gold – with Litchfield having the first say in the match, running a brilliant inside line and stepping past two defenders to finish under the posts for the early seven-point lead.
It was all one-way traffic for Saints as they dominated possession and territory in the early skirmishes. A free-kick clearance from inside the Saracens 22 by Owen Farrell failed to make touch, and the Saints punished the mistake with a lovely show and go from Fin Smith breaking the line, allowing McParland to gather the offload from his half-back partner for a trademark finish.
It took until the halfway point of the opening 40 for the hosts to register their first try of the match, courtesy of Elliot, following a lineout on the far touchline that came out wide to the winger through the hands.
The game became tighter following Saracens’ try, and Saints were forced to make two early injury replacements – with Emmanuel Iyogun forced off the field before Smith also departed for an HIA, which became permanent, meaning there was a reshuffle in the Northampton backline.
The hosts tried to make the most of the momentum as Saints gave away multiple penalties inside their own red zone; however, Northampton eventually turned over possession, winning a scrum penalty, and were able to escape the danger and enter the break with a slender seven-point lead.
Second half
The hosts registered the opening score of the second period through hooker Dan, breaking away from a dominant rolling maul, and Farrell’s conversion brought the game level. Saracens thought they had another just minutes after, but some brilliant defensive determination from Henry Pollock denied Hugh Tizard from grounding the ball.
With the score level, both sides were fighting tooth and nail for every scrap of possession, with replacements being brought on by both sides to try and find an edge in a tight contest.
Saints were struggling to find the attacking fluidity they had shown in the opening stages of the match, and with less than ten minutes left on the clock, replacement Fergus Burke opted for the posts and gave Saracens the lead for the first time in the match.
But if there’s one thing we’ve learnt this season, never count Saints out of a game. With JJ van Der Mescht held up for a second time over the line, Saints ran the ball back against Saracens with last week’s hero, Litchfield, breaking the line and giving the all-important offload to McParland, who dove under the posts to seal the win and spoil the party at the Showdown.
Line-ups:
Saracens- 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Tobias Elliott, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Charlie Bracken; 1 Rhys Carre, 2 Theo Dan, 3 Marcus Street, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 5 Hugh Tizard, 6 Theo McFarland, 7 Andy Onyeama-Christie, 8 Tom Willis.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Nathan Michelow, 21 Ivan Van Zyl, 22 Fergus Burke, 23 Max Malins.
Saints- 15 George Furbank (c), 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Tom Litchfield, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 James Ramm, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Archie McParland; 1 Emmanul Iyogun, 2 Curtis Langdon, 3 Luke Green, 4 Tom Lockett, 5 Ed Prowse, 6 Josh Kemeny, 7 Tom Pearson, 8 Henry Pollock.
Replacements: 16 Craig Wright, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 JJ Van Der Mescht, 20 Chunya Munga – 50th Saints appearance, 21 Callum Chick, 22 Jonny Weimann, 23 Fraser Dingwall