Northampton 58-17 Saracens
MATCH SUMMARY
Courtesy BBC Sport
Saracens were blown away by a scintillating display from Northampton as Sean Lamont ran in four of their eight tries at Franklin's Gardens.
Saracens started well, taking a 10-0 lead, but they had no answer to the home side's subsequent onslaught.
Northampton hit back with first-half scores from Paul Tupai, Sam Harding and Ben Cohen for a 24-10 half-time lead.
Saints cut loose after the break with Lamont's cutting edge complementing Carlos Spencer's inventive brilliance.
Dan Scarbrough scored the first try of the game, diving in at the corner after a lovely flat pass from Glen Jackson.
Northampton's Bruce Reihana had a terrible start with the boot, missing two straightforward penalty chances in quick succession.
But it was from his second miss - the ball rebounding off the post - that Saints got themselves back in the game, as Mark Bartholomeusz's clearance kick was charged down and pounced on by Tupai.
Northampton's second try came after Kyran Bracken's misplaced pass was snapped up by Mark Robinson, who gave a simple scoring pass to Harding.
Spencer gave a masterful performance for Saints
Cohen was next to cross as he got on the end of Reihana's perfect grubber on the right for a 14-point lead at the interval.
It was one-way traffic after the break as Spencer, enjoying himself behind a dominant pack, ran through his full repertoire of tricks.
And the mercurial fly-half was backed up by Lamont's excellent display of finishing.
Lamont's first try came direct from a terrible Jackson kick, his second from a perfect Spencer cross-kick, his third from a short Spencer pass while his fourth was a length of the field interception effort.
In between Lamont's third and fourth scores, substitute John Rudd dived over from close range.
Flanker Steffon Armitage scored late on for Saracens, but it barely even registered as a consolation for his thoroughly outplayed side.
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Northampton: Reihana; Lamont, Clarke, Quinlan, Cohen; Spencer, Robinson; Smith, Thompson, Budgen; Damien Browne, Lord; Tupai, Harding, Daniel Browne.
Replacements: Hartley, Emms, Gerard, Fox, Howard, Kydd, Rudd
Saracens: Bartholomeusz, Scarbrough, Johnston, Powell, Vaikona, Jackson, Bracken: Yates, Cairns, Visagie, Raiwalui, Chesney, BT Russell, Armitage, Skirving.
Replacements : Byrne, Broster, Ryder, Seymour, Rauluni, Castaignede, Harris
Referee: Roy Maybank (Kent)
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**** me , we were awesome!
Was worried during the first 10 minutes, but after that Saints were unstoppable, Sarries defense wasn't able to cope.
Carlos Spencer was absolute magic, there aren't words to describe some of the genius he came up with today. Kicking the ball backwards over his head, past the onrushing defense, running through and gathering has to be one of the most audacious pieces of skill I've ever seen. Unbelieveable.
Sean Lamont's finsihing today was superb, four tries is never a bad thing, and his first where he galloped away from Haughton was wonderful.
Jon Clarke didn't even play well today, not by his standards, and we still racked up 58 points. I'd have hate to see what would have happened if he'd played like he usually does.
A thoroughly delighted Saints fan. :lol:
