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Last Updated: Saturday, 18 February 2006, 16:48 GMT
Northampton 58-17 Saracens
MATCH SUMMARY
Northampton winger Sean Lamont
Northampton (24) 58
Tries: Tupai, Harding, Cohen, Lamont (4), Rudd
Cons: Reihana (6)
Pens: Reihana (2)
Saracens (10) 17
Tries: Scarbrough, Armitage
Cons: Jackson (2)
Pen: Jackson
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.

Saracens, who have not won a Premiership game since 20 November, opened the scoring with Dan Scarbrough 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.

Northampton fly-half Carlos Spencer
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.


  • Northampton coach Paul Grayson:

    "Carlos does some unbelievable things, things I've never seen anyone else do - he's got that little bit of genius.

    "I'm delighted for our fans - things haven't been exceptional for the last 12 months but they still turn up every week and sell the ground out.

    "This was our best performance for a long time.

    "The conditions were right, Sarries have their problems and it turned out well for us."

  • Saracens coach Mike Ford:

    "When we went behind, we just seemed to crumble - we didn't show any character at all.

    "The players need to put their hands up and say that they are not performing. That will start on Sunday morning with a meeting behind closed doors

    "The scoreboard doesn't bother me, it's how we are not performing. The players have played the game for long enough and it's all about how we try to get out of this hole.

    "We're in a lot of trouble now and we have got to fix it ourselves. We are in a deeper hole than we think we are.

    "We can't afford to wait until the last couple of games of the season before we think about not getting relegated."


    Northampton: Reihana; Lamont, Clarke, Quinlan, Cohen; Spencer, Robinson; Smith, Thompson, Budgen; D Browne, Lord; Tupai, Harding, D Browne.
    Replacements: Kydd for Clarke (69), Rudd for Cohen (58), Howard for Robinson (63), Hartley for Thompson (58), Emms for Budgen (55), Fox for Tupai (54), Gerard for D Browne (61).

    Saracens: Bartholomeusz; Scarbrough, Johnston, Powell, Haughton; Jackson, Bracken; Yates, Cairns, Visagie; Raiwalui, Chesney; B Russell, Armitage, Skirving.
    Replacements: Castaignede for Bartholomeusz (51), Rauluni for Bracken (47), Lloyd for Yates (34), Byrne for Cairns (51), Broster for Visagie (47), Ryder for Chesney (55), Seymour for Skirving (62).

    Att: 13,523

    Referee: Roy Maybank (Kent)




  • SEE ALSO
    Wasps 19-19 Northampton
    12 Feb 06 |  English
    Saracens 29-34 Bath
    12 Feb 06 |  English


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