Northampton Saints were too good for the under-strength Bulls with an impressive 59-22 victory in the Investec Champions Cup quarter-finals on Saturday.
There was much discussion in the run-up to the match about the Bulls leaving several Springboks at home, but the decision backfired as the Saints defeated the South African visitors.
James Lamb (2), Courtney Laws, Ollie Slightholme, Alex Mitchell (2), Alex Coles, Fraser Dingwall and Juarno Augustus crossed the line and scored a total of nine tries.
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Cameron Hannekom, Acker van der Merwe and Sebastian de Klerk scored for the Bulls, but it was Northampton who progressed to the semi-final against Leinster in Croke Park.
It was supposed to be a fierce clash between the Premiership leaders and South Africa’s best team, as the Bulls paid the price for leaving out big names such as Willie Le Roux, Kanan Moody and Kurt-Lee Arendse, but the procession It changed to
They blamed injuries and the epic journey from Pretoria via eight different airlines and countless routes on inaction, but were accused of downplaying the value of the competition in favor of the United Rugby Championship. .
They gave Northampton a scare for 10 minutes in the second quarter, cutting a 28-10 deficit to just six points by halftime and punishing the Saints for their overzealousness on offense.
The hosts quickly rediscovered their attacking rhythm and resumed their rampage, sending teams that ranked third and fourth in the URC on consecutive weekends.
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It was Munster who had been beaten six days earlier, and it was a typical European showdown, but this quarter-final was the only time the charming Saints were able to defeat the opposition in front of them.
George Hendy became Munster’s destroyer captain after scoring two important tries, and his first involvement against the Bulls was carrying the ball out of the defense from close to the line.
It was a whirlwind prelude to three tries in five minutes. The series of tries began with full-back Lam dummied over, before No. 8 Hanekom hit back from close range.
Neither team was glorious defensively, but the Bulls did worse as Finn Smith threw Coles into space and Laws supported the touchdown.
With Saints attacking from a lineout, Northampton grabbed their fourth try when Slyhome used his power to barrel over and Mitchell used his wits and strength to cross home.
As Saints searched their lines, there was sudden drama in what was becoming a losing game when the Bulls scored twice in quick succession, first through hooker van der Merwe, then de Klerk, after picking off Mitchell’s pass. .
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Northampton needed to settle down, but their accuracy returned just seconds into the interval, with Mitchell sending Tommy Freeman into defense and feeding Coles with a scoring pass.
With Saints swarming the visitors, Lam was next to cross, but the problem was compounded when Hanekom was shown a yellow card for a spear tackle.
The Bulls were falling apart as the tank emptied, but Dingwall and Mitchell helped themselves to surpass the half-century point mark.
Things started to get ugly for a European final when Augustus scored Northampton’s ninth try and the high-octane attack started at the end.
team
Northampton Saints: 15 James Lamb, 14 George Hendy, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Ollie Slightholme, 10 Finn Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Sam Graham, 6 Courtney Laws (c), 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 Lewis Ludlum, 22 Tom James, 23 George Firbank
Bull: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Henry Immelman, 12 Harold Forster, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Zack Berger, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Mpilo Gumede, 6 Nizam Kerr (c), 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Janko Swanepoel, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Acker van der Merwe, 1 Simphiwe Matanzima
Replacement: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Merve Olivier, 20 Reinhard Ludwig, 21 Keegan Johannes, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Cornal Hendricks
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referee: Ludovic Caillet (France), Luc Ramos (France)
TMO: Thomas Charabas (France)
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