Farrell’s opposite number, Fin Smith, kicked 17 points from the tee while scrum-half Alex Mitchell was sensational. When the game was in the balance in the final quarter, he started running the show and was only denied a try by an astonishing cover tackle by Juan Martin Gonzalez. The performances of hooker Curtis Langdon, tighthead Trevor Davison and flanker Tom Pearson were also crucial to ensuring that Courtney Lawes will get his last dance at Twickenham.
This was a decidedly un-Saints like performance, relying on steel rather than style. They weathered some periods of enormous pressure, and then used the scrum to dominate Saracens, who conceded six penalties up front. As Mark McCall acknowledged, the mantra of no scrum no win remains universally true. “We gave away a lot of scrum penalties in the last half hour of the game and it really dictated field position and every mistake became a double whammy,” Mark McCall, the Saracens director of rugby, said. “Northampton have been the best team by miles this season and they have strengthened their game in the areas they need to in the set piece and in defence. They were ferocious there today. They are going to be a force for a long time.”
From the moment that Tommy Freeman levelled Daly with a javelin of a tackle, it was clear this semi-final was going to be a spicy affair. The breakdown quickly resembled a Wild West frontier town with Christophe Ridley as the outmanned sheriff desperately trying to impose a modicum of order.
Sarries made the early running, taking a 6-0 lead from the boot of Daly but Northampton, however, will be happy with that return after Saracens had made several trips to the 22 without greater reward, particularly when Gonzalez just failed to gather Farrell’s crosskick.
Northampton proved to be far more clinical. Just after 20 minutes, they were building their first sustained pressure in the Saracens 22 when they changed the point and speed of the attack. George Furbank accelerated on to the ball and timed his pass beautifully to centre Burger Odendaal who slipped past Ben Earl’s despairing dive.
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
