With less than 60 seconds on the clock, James Pater had to switch his to elation to calm as he prepared to take what would be the match-winning conversion in Saints’ 35-33 victory over Saracens.
Saints had fallen some 12 points behind their visitors with just five minutes to play in the final PREM Rugby Cup pool stage clash, before two game-changing interventions from replacement fullback George Hendy turned the tide as he first assisted Rory Hutchinson’s score before producing an 80-metre run-in for his own.
It was then up to Pater – who had set Hendy free for both tries – to step up to take the final kick off the match, with his touchline conversion coming in clutch to seal the win for Saints at the death.
“It was tight for time with the clock coming up to 80 minutes, so I was asking our S&C coach ‘do I wait, do I wait?’,” said the 19-year-old fly-half.
“Then I looked and I saw five seconds left on the shot clock, but luckily I was already in position so I went through my process and was lucky enough to get it.
“Those are the ones you can overthink it, the same with high balls. If you overthink it, it’s way harder than it really is so it’s a lot easier when it’s all instinct.
“The crowd were unbelievable, especially when we scored in that corner – it sounded like we’d won it.
“I just turned and all the boys were on top of me. It was an unbelievable feeling.”
Despite a win not changing their semi-final status in the Cup competition, Saints went into the final pool stage match knowing that victory over Saracens would boost them into the third-ranked spot in the final four – a position vital in boosting their hopes of a home Final should they reach the last two.
But Saints started slowly in the cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens clash, conceding to Saracens after just a minute. They battled back into the clash to go into half-time at 14-14 thanks to scores from James Ramm and George Furbank but their guests struck twice after the break to pull 12 points ahead.
Chunya Munga’s stunning solo-effort pulled some of the deficit back but Saracens intercepted a loose pass and extended their lead once more – sitting 21-33 leaders before Hendy intervened.
From there, of course, it was all Saints and while the win did eventually go Northampton’s way, Pater knows there will be plenty to work on for the men in Black, Green and Gold in next week’s reviews of the match.
Pater said: “It was actually a really frustrating game for us, we lost the ball too many times and we just weren’t ball tough enough.
“It wasn’t our finest performance but we still got a win out of it.
“We knew it was going to be a big clash, and we were excited about playing against what they had.
“There was nothing to lose really, playing against a PREM standard side so we’re very happy to come away with the win.”
Over 15,000 supporters piled into cinch Stadium on Saturday, the Club’s second consecutive sell-out match in the Cup competition and eighth of the season so far.
And, for Pater, that support made the eventual victory over Saracens all the sweeter.
“It’s unbelievably fun,” he said of playing on home soil.
“When we found out it was sold-out about 10 minutes before kick-off, we were elated.
“To get sold-out PREM Cup games is amazing, we know how much the support means because other clubs don’t get as many followers as we do in the Cup.
“We cherish it every time we’re at Franklin’s Gardens.
“We know the game didn’t end up meaning much in the scheme of things, but we knew we had to perform in front of our fans.”
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 that clash go on sale CLICK HERE.