Courtney Lawes stars as Northampton Saints win at Saracens
Phil Dowson paid tribute to an excellent all-round performance after Northampton kept their cool to upset Saracens and record a surprise 18-12 Gallagher Premiership away win.
Courtney Lawes was named man-of-the-match for a typically-physical display and he helped steer the Saints through a nervy finale to bag the points and snap Sarries’ five-game winning run.
Fin Smith kicked two penalties, while Ollie Sleighthome and Alex Mitchell tries made sure of the victory, despite Saracens threatening a late fightback when Alex Lewington scored with seven minutes to go.
Fifth-placed Saints are now level on points with Saracens and Dowson believes their first league win at StoneX Stadium since 2019 is a measure of how much they have improved.
“I’m delighted with all facets of the game,” the director of rugby said.
“The lineout was under a bit of pressure and I thought we managed that when Alex Coles, our caller, went off and Chunya (Munga) as well. For Courtney (Lawes) to call that was strong.
“We talked during the week about the quality of Saracens being a measuring stick for some of the things we worked on from last season in terms of our defence, our set-piece and elements of that.
“We talked before the game about discipline issues and we want to be hard at the breakdown and create turnovers. That comes with an element of risk but we ran that balance pretty well in this game in terms of we got turnovers and didn’t give many penalties away.
“The decision-making of when to be more pragmatic is the key for us. It’s an exciting season and it adds pressure every week.
“You’ve got to be on your mettle every week. If you’re ever so slightly off, you’re going to get punished, so it’s good for the league and hopefully for the crowd as well.”
Saracens boss Mark McCall admitted his team were second best and did not deserve to win.
They threatened a late comeback when Manu Vunipola – standing in at fly-half for Owen Farrell, who was missing with a knee injury – played a looping pass for Lewington to cross in the corner.
McCall conceded they lacked energy but was not concerned long term.
“We were second best in all areas, to be honest,” McCall said.
“We wanted consistency in our performance but we were way off it today, especially in the first half.
“Physically, both sides of the ball, we weren’t great and in general, our movement off the ball was poor as well.
“We got a little bit better in the last 20 minutes of the match when everything was on the line and that’s the kind of energy we need from the start of the match, to be honest.
“We had three games before this, Gloucester, Newcastle, Harlequins, where our energy was phenomenal and they were really strong performances.
“There were some warning signs last weekend, especially in the first half against Bristol, which felt a little bit like the first half today.
“Northampton were fantastic and they thoroughly deserved to win.”
Comments on RugbyPass
“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
37 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
1 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
33 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
5 Go to comments