Hotshot Hendy seizes the day
Northampton Saints….. 25pts
Tries: Freeman 24, Sleightholme 28, Mitchell 73
Conversions: Smith 24, Furbank 75
Penalties: Furbank 48
Drop goals: Furbank 20
Bath ………………………………. 21pts
Tries: du Toit 31, Muir 51
Conversions: Russell 33
Penalties: Russell 9, 43, 67
George Hendy’s ‘Saints Super-sub’ status will be forever etched into Franklin’s Gardens folklore after his magical break eight minutes from time ensured Northampton celebrated the tenth anniversary of their first Premiership title by claiming their second at Twickenham yesterday.
It took an amalgam of acceleration, power and balance from the flame-haired 21-year-old wing to set up the winning try for scrum-half Alex Mitchell, after surging 40 metres to torch the hopes of a fiercely combative Bath outfit.
Hendy had come on four minutes into the second half, just as 14-man Bath were in the process of dragging Northampton into deep water, despite losing loose-head Beno Obano only 20 minutes into the match for a high shoulder to the head of Saints No.8 Juarno Augustus.
Bath’s grit and determination saw them make light of the handicap as they bottled-up the best attacking team in the Premiership to take a 21-18 lead through a 66th minute Finn Russell penalty – and they looked capable of pulling off an epic against the-odds victory.
Northampton’s problems appeared to be compounded when fly-half Fin Smith, the league’s players player of the year, hobbled off with a leg injury 10 minutes from time. However, with Saints skipper George Furbank taking over at fly-half, and desperation building in Northampton’s ranks, they managed to pull it out of the fire, thanks to Hendy’s inspirational charge.
Receiving the ball from Furbank a couple of metres inside the Bath half, Hendy attacked the channel between Ollie Lawrence and Will Muir, and as the Bath pair tried to snare him he shrugged them off. Hitting full stride Hendy tore into the Bath 22, and as he was clattered by the cover he showed great strength to stay on his feet long enough to loop the crucial scoring pass inside to Mitchell.
The England scrum-half had not had the easiest of afternoons with his opposite number, Ben Spencer, and the outstanding Bath flankers, Sam Underhill and Ted Hill, hounding him around the breakdown. However, he had the legs and lungs to track Hendy’s break and collect his pass to touch down near the posts.
Furbank’s conversion gave Northampton their winning margin, and on the basis of a season in which they had already won 19 out of 24 matches in all competitions, including reaching the European Cup semi-finals, they are worthy English champions. However, if Bath had wrestled the trophy off Northampton, bringing their 28-year drought without a title to an end – as they threatened to do for long passages of this match – the Saints could not have complained.
With a bit of luck Bath would have scored in the opening minute, when a Muir chip from a Saints knock-on saw Matt Gallagher unable to hold the sharp bounce.
Bath’s scrum was also in the ascent from the start, with their powerful tight-head Thomas Du Toit squeezing Saints veteran Alex Waller into conceding penalties, and they also regrouped so effectively after Obano’s dismissal that Northampton’s attacking edge was blunted.
Bath not only defended with thunderous intent, with Underhill their main master blaster, but also had the best of the breakdown battle, with the openside again to the fore. Underhill was aided and abetted by Du Toit and Russell, the two big signings who provided the same inspirational qualities here that they have all season.
This forced Northampton into conceding 11 penalties in the first hour, of which seven were given away at the breakdown, and along with the astute kicking of Russell and Spencer, it kept Bath in the title hunt.
The first Saints breakdown infringement saw a Russell penalty give Bath an early lead, despite both he and Smith missing their first shots at goal. Smith put it to rights almost immediately to make it 3-3 with a well struck drop-goal midway through the first-half – before Obano’s dismissal threatened to load the dice decisively in Northampton’s favour.
There was no mitigation, and under the current laws referee Christophe Ridley had no option but to show Obano a red card, leaving Bath depleted for the last hour of this clash between the two best teams in the Premiership.
At first the man-down script went along preordained lines when Northampton scored a slick try almost immediately. It started with an Alex Coles lineout take, which was punched hard into the Bath midfield by Tom Pearson. From the recycle it took a spectacular turn as Courtney Lawes delivered a beautifully weighted inside ball for Furbank to hit the ball at pace, slicing through the Bath midfield before putting Tommy Freeman over for the opening try.
Smith’s conversion made it 10-3 – but Bath soon showed their teeth. It started with a Russell hoist which Muir managed to steal from under the noses of Mitchell and Smith, and from the recycle Spencer’s pinpoint angled kick to the corner saw Gallagher in pole position to scoop it up and score – only for another wicked bounce to leave Bath empty-handed.
Northampton’s reply was lethal, and instantaneous, with Pearson bowling over Cameron Redpath on halfway, and then Smith finding Fur-bank coming into the line full-tilt before passing to Ollie Sleightholme. With the Bath defence backpedalling the Saints winger grubbered deep into the 22, and when the unintentional spin on the ball lodged it in the corner of the in-goal, Sleightholme grounded it for Northampton’s second try, stretching the lead to 15-3.
The nip and tuck scoring continued when Bath hauled themselves back into contention through their potent driving maul, with Hill’s lineout catch driven to the Saints line by Tom Dunn, before Du Toit lived up to his ‘Tank’ nickname by smashing over for his eighth league try of the season.
Russell’s conversion meant that Bath trailed only 15-10 at half-time, and after the interval an exchange of penalties between Russell and Smith made it 18-13 although with the bench men coming on Bath got a second wind, while Northampton seemed increasingly disjointed.
A Dunn tap-and-go from 20 metres reflected Bath’s urgency, and when a laser-beam cross kick by Spencer to the corner saw Hendy and Muir in an aerial joust, it was Hendy who got the only touch, deflecting it into the in-goal, where Muir pounced to score.
Although Russell could not add the extras, at 1818 it was all to play for, with Bath in the box-seat after Russell’s penalty hit the target. However, in a final which reflected the saying that the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, George Hendy bucked the trend, making his earlier error redundant with a brilliant seize-the day moment.
