The Sunday Times - UK (2022-06-05)

16 June 5, 2022The Sunday Times

Rugby Union Gallagher Premiership

There was just a chance of it all

coming apart for Saints. But Rory

Hutchinson restored the balance with

a try, Freeman completed his hat-trick

with two more and Courtnall Skosan

kicked the ball nearly 80 yards

upfield, hit the post with his final kick

but gathered to score and everything

was back in order for Northampton.

There was a tremendous atmos-

phere in the stadium for the last game

of the regular season and to see off

great Saints — Api Ratuniyarawa

departs now for London Irish and the

his mind about that precious second

that was still on the clock.

Northampton had scored twice

through the splendid Fijian hooker,

Sam Matavesi, and they added

another peach of a try touched down

by Alex Mitchell, who is another who

might well go to Australia.

But Newcastle clearly had a pride in

their performance even though their

season has wound down with the

departure of the iconic Dean Richards

as director of rugby and the whole

operation probably in need of a

T

he Saints go marching on.

This win took them into the

semi-finals of the Gallagher

Premiership, where they will

meet Leicester. And in over-

coming a brave Newcastle

Falcons, they illustrated

exactly the problems they

will cause for their fierce East Mid-

lands rivals but also the problems they

may create for themselves.

It is a great achievement by a great

club to make the top four, and they

have pace and skills to burn. They

scored ten tries, three by the meteoric

Tommy Freeman on the wing — the

young man must surely tour with

England in Australia in the summer.

They were also beautifully orches-

trated by Dan Biggar and they had

great ability in the starting team and

on the bench.

Indeed, it was almost as if to mark

the departure of their coach Chris

Boyd back to his native New Zealand

that Northampton were bringing out a

definitive exhibition of Super Rugby,

as it is played down under. The score-

line might make it appear that it was

all lukewarm basketball but it was not

Saints throw

down gauntlet

to fierce rivals

— the defences held up on both sides

and Northampton really had to pro-

duce their best to put Newcastle away.

At one stage their 36-7 lead at half-

time had shrunk to an alarming 36-26

in a three-try Falcons revival. And it

was at points like this here and in pre-

vious games this season that Leicester

may find ways to attack them. You

would imagine that the semi-final

would resemble a European Cup final

of last week with Northampton play-

ing the Leinster role as all-out attack-

ers and Leicester trying to beat them

up — in a nice way, of course— up front

in the manner of La Rochelle. If North-

ampton can hold their own in the

forward battle they have a chance.

There would be difficulty in choos-

ing a try of the match, such was the

feast at the disposal of anyone select-

ing. But probably the most striking

came just after Newcastle had exe-

cuted a 50-22 kick and won a lineout

deep in Northampton territory.

Biggar signalled to the referee that

the time was up and he should blow

his whistle for half-time but, amaz-

ingly, we found that there was one

second remaining and he had to get

on with it.

And so he did. Newcastle lost the

ball and conceded a penalty, Biggar

kicked a long, booming touch-finder,

Northampton won the ball and

launched an absolutely devastating

attacking move which ended with

Freeman flying over in the corner. By

this time, Biggar may have changed

Stephen Jones

at Franklin’s Gardens

Lewis Ludlam

goes over for the

tenth and final

Saints try but

they did not have

it all their own

way against

Newcastle

despite the

scoreline

relaunch. They are a great club with a

thumping heartbeat and the division

sorely needs them.

They also had a big say in this game.

Callum Chick scored a memorable try

with a long burst from near halfway;

then in a barrage in the second half,

they were given a penalty try when

Mitchell illegally stopped George

McGuigan from scoring.

Soon afterwards, Jamie Blamire

and Adam Radwan scored as well, the

Radwan try an epic of forward driving

and handling.

Gloucester

give lesson

to young

guns but

win proves

in vain

Some games come with clarity as to

their consequences. Saracens’ visit to

Gloucester wasn’t one of those. It was

a match whose importance was

determined in other places, at other

times. The other place was

Northampton. Everyone at

Kingsholm knew that victory for

Saints would leave Gloucester’s best

endeavours in vain.

Even as Jack Singleton was scoring

an early trademark catch-and-drive

try from a close-range lineout,

Northampton were building an eight-

point lead of their own against a

Newcastle Falcons team who have

won only a solitary Gallagher

Premiership fixture this calendar

year. Nobody expected the away win

in the East Midlands required to send

Gloucester into the play-offs with a

bonus-point win. As for “other

times”, this was a youthful Saracens

side with eyes on the future. It was a

great opportunity for men like full

back Elliott Obatoyinbo and England

Under-20 back row Toby Knight.

While Max Malins glided around to

good effect on the counterattack,

Saracens badly missed the

experience of the likes of Maro Itoje

as Gloucester’s Singleton rumbled

over for that initial try. The second

Gloucester try benefited from a sharp

switch between Ben Meehan and the

ubiquitous Jordy Reid. The English-

qualified Aussie was a star at Ealing

Trailfinders before joining

Gloucester. He is developing similar

shiny traits in the West Country.

Santiago Carreras is already one of

the brightest of the Gloucester

backline. After 32 minutes Adam

Hastings delayed his pass and

popped it at shoulder height to the

Puma, who scythed through.

Yet there was no sense of revenge

for the recent European Friday-night

pummelling at Saracens’ hands. No

bated breath. Gloucester were ahead

by 21 points but it was 29-7 to

Northampton. Kingsholm was

relaxed, enjoying itself, both on the

field and in the Shed.

The result was an irrelevance to

Saracens. Yesterday was canned for

tomorrow and the many days to

come for these kids. Lessons are

every bit as valuable in defeat as

victory. And it wasn’t that the second

seed for next Saturday’s semi-finals

were disinterested.

Duncan Taylor was popping passes

through his legs — à la Owen Farrell.

Space was created and scoring

opportunities made but a Malins

disallowed try apart, the biggest

problem was securing and keeping

possession in the Gloucester 22. In

the absence of Jamie George, Kapeli

Pifeleti couldn’t withstand the

pressure from the Gloucester lineout.

Saracens are the masters at timing

their runs to championships. They

have won enough games, gained

enough bonus points, to guarantee

home advantage whatever the

outcome in Gloucester. Few of this

Saracens side will be involved at the

StoneX stadium next week but Mark

McCall has based the enduring

Stuart Barnes

quality of Saracens’ on-field success

on the sort of long-term planning

beyond the reach of all other

Premiership rivals.

On the match itself, Meehan gave

Gloucester a balance between the

free running game encapsulated by

Carreras, Ollie Thorley, Chris Harris

and Louis Rees-Zammit (who scored

a roof-lifting roar about the

70th minute) with his clever kicks to

keep them playing in the right parts

of the pitch. It was from such a

position that Singleton crossed for his

second and Gloucester’s bonus-point

try with Tim Swinson yellow carded

for a borderline red card shoulder

wrap around Thorley’s throat.

Today’s Gloucester led the future

Saracens 26-0 but Northampton were

ahead by 29. Harris and Thorley

linked to send the winger over for a

fifth try. Gloucester were waving

goodbye to what has been a

successful campaign. And they were

doing it in style. Saracens continued

to get into Gloucester’s 22 but

excessive early offloads were a prime

lesson for McCall’s youngsters. With

24 minutes remaining Newcastle had

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS

65

NEWCASTLE FALCONS

26

GLOUCESTER

54

SARACENS

7