Biggar masterminds fightback to leave Saints in pole position
Trailing by 12 points in France, where Northampton had lost in their previous 11 matches, Dan Biggar masterminded a stirring comeback that puts Saints in pole position to qualify for the Champions Cup knockout stages.
Should Gloucester or Saracens fail to extract maximum points from their fixtures against Toulouse or Racing, Northampton will seize one of the three best runners-up places.
Saints earned their chance to qualify the hard way after being thrashed home and away by Leinster in Pool One and only just snatching a bonus-point victory against Benetton in Treviso.
Director of rugby Chris Boyd was much happier today, as Northampton racked up 31 points in the second half against a Lyon side who are somehow second in the Top 14.
“This year it was the most pleasing 40 minutes [second-half] in terms of having a clear plan and realising what we had to do,” Boyd said. “To hold our nerve and come through was pleasing. It showed a good level of maturity that is slowly coming to a young group.”
Central to that response was Biggar. The Wales fly-half contributed 11 points with the boot and created tries for halfback partner Cobus Reinach and fullback George Furbank.
“He’s a very seasoned professional and is still trying to grow his game,” Boyd said. “That is the mark of a worldclass player for me. He’s the guardian of standards here and gives the boys a spray when things get sloppy. What he brings in terms of leadership is invaluable.”
Furbank’s try came straight off the training ground. As Lyon overloaded one side of the ruck, Biggar called for a switch of direction from Reinach and released Furbank, who ran a sumptuous outside break to register Northampton’s bonus-point score.
With England announcing their Six Nations squad tomorrow, it was not a bad time for Furbank to score in front of the new attack coach Simon Amor, particularly after a shaky first half. Replacement hooker James Fish then sealed the victory, running a short line after Rory Hutchinson’s run.
After a cagey opening quarter, Northampton drew first blood with a penalty on halfway, which Biggar kicked exquisitely to within seven metres of the Lyon line. The first maul was halted illegally. For the second offence, referee Dan Jones sent tighthead prop Francisco Gomez Kodela to the sin-bin for engaging in an early drive. On their third attempt, Northampton mauled their way over with Mikey Haywood coming up with the ball.
Biggar’s conversion seemed to sail high above the right-hand post, but the flags were not raised, much to the disgust of the fly-half, who had not previously missed a kick in the competition.
Lyon struck back when former Scotland scrum-half Sam Hidalgo-Clyne used a show-and-go to snipe before feeding Felix Lambey for the score.
Poor Andy Symons was then crunched in the ribcage by Josua Tuisova after a hospital pass from Reinach, and Lyon inflicted further pain when Liam Gill caught Saints with a tap-andgo. Jonathan Wisniewski slotted a penalty on half-time to stretch Lyon’s lead to 17-5. At that point, Northampton looked out of it, but they rallied after the break, with No 8 Teimana Harrison scoring from close range after Biggar had kicked to the corner. Harrison spilt the ball after running on to Biggar’s perfect grubber kick, before Biggar kicked a penalty to reduce the deficit to 17-15. Northampton took the lead when Biggar kicked ahead and Reinach won the race to the loose ball.
Lyon re-established their lead through captain Charlie Ngatai, only for Furbank and Fish to turn the game around and put Northampton within touching distance of the last eight.