The English of Northampton qualified for the final of the Champions Cup on Saturday by beating Leinster (37-34), however favorite, and await a French club, the Union Bordeaux-Bègles or Toulouse, which compete on Sunday.
Freeman dynamiteur
The stars of the English selection, like Tommy Freeman, author of a hat -trick in the first period, where Henry Pollock put the Irish, who had beaten them last year at the competition stadium and who pushed to the last second. The saints will try to hang a second European title in Cardiff, 25 years after the first.
To do this, it was necessary to show a lot of courage, in particular to defend for 10 minutes while the Irish returned to three points after a test of Lowe (70th), and that they were in numerical superiority. The Irish also was denied a test one minute from the end, and did not manage to convert a penalty played by hand five meters from the line in stride.
The so solid blue wall cracked in the eighth minute, after a breakthrough by Finn Smith in the center, before serving Tommy Freeman who marked a test for the ninth consecutive meeting, a series started in the first match of the Six Nations tournament.
Solid defense
It was just a taste of the winger’s demonstration, who marked two other tests in the first period, each time following his team’s breakthroughs. Meanwhile, it was the third Henry Pollock line that turned into a winger, time to take an interval after a grouping and overflow Sam Prendergast to mark a test and put a little more light on his enormous defensive work. At the break, the English led 27-15.
But the saints were not just good in attack. They were also able to oppose beautiful resistance to blue waves, fighting on all balloons and managing to block key elements, such as the second South African line RG Snyman.
They certainly cashed five tests, taken three yellow cards, but still managed to limit the damage on Irish highlights, the second quarter of an hour of the first period, on the return from the locker room and especially during the last ten minutes, played with only three points ahead and 14.
