Grayson shows nerves of steel to sink Sarries
CHRIS Boyd saluted young James Grayson after the fly-half kept ice cool to ensure Saints left Allianz Park with their first victory there for three and a half years.
Northampton director of rugby Boyd was concerned his side had blown the chance of a rare success against the champions in their opening fixture of a new campaign when seeing a six-point lead overturned in the second half.
But referee Ian Tempest had the home fans venting their fury when he awarded a penalty against the hosts with 90 seconds remaining. Grayson, 21, the son of former England No.10 Paul, controlled his nerves before stepping up and sending his kick through the posts.
It gave Saints, who are keen to repeat last season’s achievement of making the play-offs, the deserved spoils after scoring three first half tries through David Ribbans, Rory Hutchinson and Henry Taylor.
Boyd enthused: “James has been chipping away for a while and he is good at game management and organising us around the field. It’s good time in the seat for him and he has a very good tutor in Dan Biggar when he comes back.
“To come here and get a win is very pleasing. It’s a tough place to win. It gives you a different feeling when you get that kick at the end rather than miss it.
“Sarries have a lot of their first-team guys away but we are also experiencing some players missing.”
Saracens were minus their large contingent of internationals on duty in Japan – seven of whom are with England. But director of rugby Mark McCall refused to blame that for his side’s defeat.
“It was a game full of ups and downs,” he said. “There were things to be pleased about with this young team but there are clearly plenty of things for us to fix too.”
It was a second surprise home defeat for Sarries in the space of a few weeks after they were beaten in the Premiership Cup by Sale Sharks.
And certainly not the way the all-conquering double winners from last season would have wanted to begin their search of a fifth domestic title in six seasons. Ben Spencer’s two early penalties were quickly wiped out by a fine try from lock Ribbans who dived over a pile of bodies in a ruck to ground the ball following Saints pressure.
Grayson converted only to see a third Spencer penalty and a fine try from full-back Matt Gallagher give Sarries the advantage back. Gallagher, son of former All Blacks John, raced over the line after a Ben Earl break.
Saints finished the half stronger with centre Rory Hutchinson twisting and turning his way over for a fine individual try and then scrum-half Henry Taylor rounding off a breakaway for a 21-16 half-time lead.
The second half developed into a kicking contest with indiscipline on both sides seeing Spencer kick Sarries into a one-point lead and seemingly on the way to a scrappy win. Fullback George Furbank had a try ruled out for a forward pass but Saints refused to give up and Grayson sealed the win with his late kick.