Youngster George Hendy came off the bench to score two touchdowns and help Northampton Saints reach the Champions Cup quarter-finals after a 24-14 win over Munster.
The 21-year-old Hendy put Saints ahead with a brilliant team move, and after a well-seasoned game, a great individual performance sealed Saints’ place in the last eight.
Munster got off to a great start and took a 14-7 advantage after 30 minutes with tries from Sean O’Brien and Mike Haley.
Northampton had to work incredibly hard to stay in the game but were able to go into the break level at 14-14 thanks to tries from James Lamb and Tommy Freeman.
It was a thrilling game, with both teams having chances in the second half, but it was Hendy’s brave display in the final quarter that decided the Champions Cup round of 16.
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Northampton will take on Premiership rivals Harlequins and Exeter in the quarter-finals next weekend, before hosting South African Bulls and proving their mettle and attacking prowess against Munster.
It was a quality that first came to the fore in the first half, as they broke through the opening ten minutes brilliantly on the ropes, absorbing Munster’s early onslaught one after the other before counterattacking with their first attack through Lam. did. .
The visiting Irish side were soon back on the attack to equalize through a goal from Winger O’Brien, and the frenetic pace of the first quarter continued as their rivals took turns to threaten a whitewash.
However, Munster clearly had the upper hand, increasing their dominance based on their ability to hold onto the ball and their intention to keep it moving, and their tactics were creating holes in the home defence.
The next over was Hayley, who was stopped by a tackle from scrum-half Tom James, and in a sign of Northampton’s struggles, the turnover at the line drew loud cheers from the fans.
Freeman made an even bigger noise in the 36th minute when he ran over, as Saints drew defenders from the scrum to create space in midfield.
The high-octane play continued into the second half, but Munster were no longer able to hold onto the ball for so long and handling errors increasingly affected their display.
Instead, Northampton controlled territory and possession and suffered a number of failures due to their own mistakes, but their attack clicked into gear in the 61st minute when Hendy crossed.
The move started with a lineout inside the Saints 22, with Smith darting forward and providing a delayed pass from the wing to Olly Slightholme, before Lamb sent in Hendy.
Smith missed on his conversion and penalty attempts, and the wind intervened causing both kicks to be drawn, but Hendy broke two tackles and touched down in the right corner, eliminating any doubts.
team
Northampton: 15 James Lamb, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Berger Odendaal, 11 Ollie Slightholm, 10 Finn Smith, 9 Tom James, 8 Sam Graham, 7 Lewis Ludlam (c), 6 Courtney Laws, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Alex Moon, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun
Replacement: 16 Sam Matabesi, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Temo Mayanavanua, 20 Angus Scott-Young, 21 Juano Augustus, 22 Alex Mitchell, 23 George Hendy
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Sean O’Brien, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Alex Nankibel, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tad Behan (c), 4 Thomas Ahern, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Jeremy Rahman
Replacement: 16 Eoghan Clarke, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 Mark Donnelly, 19 Jack O’Donoghue, 20 Alex Kenderen, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Shay McCarthy
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referee: David Sutherland (Scotland), Johnny Perriam (Scotland)
TMO: Holly Davidson (Scotland)
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