Biggar: Knee injury makes him Wales doubt
DAN Biggar faces a battle to be fit for Wales against England this Saturday after picking up a knee injury as Northampton subsided to a fourth successive league defeat.
On an afternoon of high drama, Biggar left the field in considerable pain after landing awkwardly on his right leg, although boss Chris Boyd later played down the severity of the knock.
Boyd said: “I think he hyper-extended a leg, but he seems to be walking okay so I don’t think it’s too serious. I don’t think there’s any structural damage.”
Saints made a dream start when Alex Coles picked up a loose ball from a Richard Wigglesworth steepler before feeding Harry Mallinder on the run. The full-back outstripped the Saracens cover before releasing Fraser Dingwall for a fine score.
Northampton doubled their advantage three minutes later when Tom Wood collected a lineout before Biggar’s well-timed pass sent Mallinder to the line.
Sarries responded instantly, Rotimi Segun rocketing down the right touchline to score after being released by Alex Goode. Ben Earl, Will Skelton and Jackson Wray then combined well, earning a penalty that Manu Vunipola converted.
Dingwall’s splendid tackle on Segun prevented a certain Saracens try but disaster struck for Saints – and potentially Wales – when Biggar collected his own kick and collapsed in agony, clutching his right knee before Matt Proctor replaced him.
Northampton shrugged off the setback to extend their lead through Mallinder’s penalty before Sarries suffered a triple blow when Wray departed groggily after a head knock, quickly followed by Duncan Taylor and Goode, also with concussions.
Amid the mayhem both sides attempted to play ambitious rugby, with Mallinder proving hugely influential as a creative force as Saints led 15-8 at half-time.
Mallinder’s booming touchfinder gave Saints good field position from the restart but that came to nothing before the home side lost a man to the sinbin when Lewis Bean was harshly adjudged to have caught Wigglesworth with a swinging arm.
Worse followed for Northampton from the resultant lineout when Wigglesworth’s pass was batted away by Taqele Naiyaravoro and he was yellow-carded, much to the chagrin of already fired-up Saints fans who made their feelings known.
Saracens mounted a lineout drive, only for Titi Lamositele to be held up, but there was no mistake the next time as Jack Singleton piled over.
Vunipola’s conversion levelled the scores before lovely sleight of hand from the England U20s fly-half released Alex Lewington. He fed Singleton and three phases later Saracens went ahead when Nick Tompkins shimmied through to score.
Bean and Naiyaravoro returned just as Mallinder booted a penalty to reduce Saracens’ lead to four points, but Saints promptly suffered again when Cobus Reinach’s pass was picked off by Ben Earl who raced 60 metres to score.
Saints’ hopes rose as Matt Gallagher saw yellow for a deliberate knock-on and Mallinder’s third penalty brought them to within six points. Lewington was then binned for another deliberate knockdown but Sarries expertly ran down the clock.