Northampton see off 14-man Saracens to keep playoff hopes alive

Northampton kept their playoff hopes alive after taking full advantage of Duncan Taylor’s eighth-minute red card to beat an already under-strength Saracens side 38-29. Saracens named only three first-choice players in their starting line-up at Franklin’s Gardens and Northampton received a further boost when Taylor was sent off early on for a high shot on Fin Smith.

Despite having the numerical advantage for much of the game, Northampton were made to work hard before finally claiming an eighth consecutive home victory in the Premiership as well as bringing an end to Saracens’ run of six successive wins at Franklin’s Gardens.

Alex Moon, Lewis Ludlam, Tommy Freeman, Rory Hutchinson, Fraser Dingwall and Smith scored tries for the home side with Smith adding four conversions. Rotimi Segun scored two of Saracens’ four tries, with Theo Dan and Manu Vunipola grabbing the others and Vunipola adding three conversions and a penalty.

Saracens may have been missing a host of big names at the outset but they still opened the scoring in the fourth minute with an excellent try. From a lineout near halfway, young centre Olly Hartley made the initial break before feeding Alex Lewington. The wing then launched a well-judged cross-field kick for Segun to perform heroics by collecting before cartwheeling into the corner.

Within minutes, Saints should have been level but lock David Ribbans inexplicably lost possession in the act of diving over so a period of sustained pressure went unrewarded.

The explosive start to the game continued when Taylor was sent off by referee Wayne Barnes but Saracens temporarily overcame that setback to extend their lead with a straightforward penalty from Vunipola. After 19 minutes, Saints got onto the scoreboard when a succession of bursts from their powerful back-row put the visitors’ defence on the back foot for Alex Mitchell to send Moon over.

The home side soon scored another. James Ramm raced away down the right flank to chip ahead and win a position in the opposition 22. From there the ball was swiftly recycled for skipper Ludlam to crash over with Smith’s conversion putting his side in front for the first time.

Saints continued to entertain the crowd with some exhilarating passages of play but too often they failed to capitalise by carelessly dropping passes when seeming likely to score.

However, their enterprise was eventually rewarded when Freeman was given the opportunity to leave Ruben de Haas standing to score Northampton’s third and leave them with a 19-10 half-time advantage.

Within three minutes of the restart, Saracens were blown away by another breathtaking score. From a scrum near their own 22, Saints created acres of space for Ramm to hare into the opposition 22 with Hutchinson benefitting from the visitors’ lack of numbers to score the bonus-point try.

Ramm was injured in the move and departed clutching his shoulder but nothing could stop rampant Saints as Smith strolled over for their fifth try.

Resilient Saracens showed some spirit to respond with a converted try from Vunipola but Segun picked up a yellow card for a dangerous challenge on George Furbank.

In the wing’s absence, Dingwall added another try but remarkably, despite playing with 13, Saracens managed a third score through Dan.

Segun also returned in time to see his side dominate the final 10 minutes with the wing scoring his second in the dying seconds to earn Saracens a bonus point of their own.