By George!
Hendy’s late heroics see off Munster and leave Saints dreaming of famous double
Northampton stayed on course for premiership and Champions Cup glory as Saints director of rugby phil Dowson said his team’s supporters could dream of what would be a remarkable double.
this was an epic European encounter, Dowson’s men following fellow English sides harlequins and Exeter into the quarter-finals. northampton will face South african’s Bulls in the last eight.
Saints will surely fancy their chances. they are currently five points clear at the top of the premiership table and will have home advantage against the Bulls on Saturday night.
asked if he thought a double was a realistic achievement, Dowson said: ‘Yes, I think so but we have got to keep our feet on the ground. We’ve got a short turnaround for the Bulls.
‘they are a very, very talented group. they’ve got some big men and power and athleticism throughout their squad.
‘there is an element of relief. I thought that we looked a little bit nervous. In the second half we looked much more like ourselves.’
one of the most famous days in northampton’s history saw them beat munster to claim European glory at twickenham in 2000. now, Saints supporters are dreaming of a repeat.
this was the English side’s second victory over the Irish province this season and they deserved it. a late brace of tries from substitute George hendy proved the difference at Franklin’s Gardens. Starting backs James ramm and Fin Smith both had fine games, as did hooker Curtis Langdon who is pushing hard for England summer tour selection after a superb season.
But the impact of hendy off the bench was hugely significant. he finished off a brilliant team try on the hour mark as Saints delivered some sizzling rugby.
Fly-half Smith sent ollie Sleightholme into a gap and ramm, the outstanding australian full back only just back from injury, was in support. hendy finished it off with an acrobatic dive into the corner.
hendy’s second was just as good. With Saints on the attack, the pass to the 21-year- old was well behind him. It forced hendy to turn backwards to pick up possession but that didn’t bother him as he swatted Ireland fly-half Jack Crowley and Simon Zebo aside to make it two.
‘ he’s a freak of an athlete,’ Dowson said of hendy.
It was the final nail in the munster coffin. the Irish giants, so often a dominant force in this competition, revealed afterwards that their squad had been hit hard by illness in the build-up.
munster head coach Graham rowntree, a former England assistant, said: ‘It’s not been the most straightforward week in terms of selection but we rolled our sleeves up and got on with it for a big game against a great team. We had a bit of a bug going around the group.
‘there were some big swings in the game where we could have scored a try if someone held a pass but they won the ball back and a few phases later, they scored.
‘ they were so good on transition. But those errors, I thought we gifted them.’
munster captain tadhg Beirne was outstanding on the field but the lock forward coughed his way through the post-match press conference, summing up his team’s illness struggles.
Sipping on a can of heineken as an emergency lubricant, Beirne said: ‘ people get sick — that’s part of life. You just get on with it. there was a bit of sickness going around.
‘ that happens in team environments but that’s not the reason we lost.’
the two teams served up a feast of an opening 40 which ended with them level at 14-14. It was European rugby at its best as Saints showed their pedigree.
northampton’s strive for the double is partly motivated by the fact they want to send England internationals and club greats Courtney Lawes and Lewis Ludlam out with a trophy or two.
Lawes and Ludlam will both leave at the end of the season for moves to French clubs Brive and toulon respectively. their final campaigns could yet end in glorious fashion.
ramm and tommy Freeman’s first-half efforts were cancelled out by Sean o’Brien and mike haley but munster failed to score in the second half.
In front of a sold-out crowd of 15,153, Saints delivered. munster’s strong travelling support more than played its part in a fabulous occasion but hendy’s late salvo ruined their afternoon.
a week after getting the better of the experienced owen Farrell in a victory over Saracens, northampton’s England no 10 Smith edged his individual battle with Crowley.
Smith, who made his test debut coming off the bench against Italy during the Six nations, mixed some lovely passing at the line with strong defence as he continued his impressive form.
Fitness permitting, he is a
certainty for England’s summer tour matches with Japan and New Zealand alongside Marcus Smith and George Ford. He could yet head to the southern hemisphere as a Premiership and European champion.
Smith’s only blemishes were a shanked penalty attempt and a couple of missed conversions.
‘I’m delighted. It’s the first time in a long time we’re into the quarter-finals in this competition,’ said Dowson, who must now be dreaming of even better things to come.