Saracens vs Northampton Saints LIVE rugby: Result and reaction from Premiership semi-final
Gallagher Premiership semi-finals start with Saracens v Northampton Saints
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Follow live coverage as Saracens host Northampton Saints in the first of the Gallagher Premiership semi-final play-offs today.
It’s crunch time at the end of a season that has been largely overshadowed by dismal financial projections, with both Worcester and Wasps going into administration and London Irsh also contending with business concerns.
Saracens finished top of the table with 74 points and having lost just five matches, while Northampton finished fourth, with four wins fewer than their opponents. While there are ongoing debates about the future of Rugby, the focus shifts to the conclusion of the season, with Saracens playing in their 14th Premiership semi-final, and hoping to go one better than their defeat to Leicester last season.
We will bring you all the action and updates from today’s game in the live blog below:
Saracens 24-15
65’ Try! Northampton. Can they find a way back into this?
It was a clever piece of work from Smith to pick out Courtney Lawes down the wing, before passing to James Ramm.
Having looked all but out of the tie at half time, the game has been completely turned on its head by Northampton who have started to show the form that saw them reach the play-offs.
The ball was put down quite wide to make a difficult conversion for Smith, and his attempt just skimmed wide of the posts.
Saints will be hoping that doesn’t turn into a costly miss as they stay nine points behind their opponents.
Saracens 24-10 Northampton Saints
56’ Try! Northampton have finally scored.
A glimmer of hope remains for the Saints after Alex Mitchell capitalised on an inche of space before weaving his way over the line with a clever feint.
It was a clever piece of individual work from the scrum half to hold off a challenge from Jackson Wray to create the space.
Mitchell then faked a pass which slightly threw the Saracens defence before weaving and dodging his way to the line just next to the posts.
Smith calmly put away the fairly straightforward conversion ot reduce his side’s deficit to 14 with just under 25 minutes remaining in the match.
Saracens 21-3
54’ Changes for both sides. Northampton will play the last 25 minutes or so of the match with a completely changed front row.
Robbie Smith and Paul Hill were brought on in place of Tom Cruise and Trevor Davison.
There was a brief moment of concern for Saracens, as Nick Isiekwe failed his head injury assessment and was not able to continue.
His temporary replacement Callum Hunter-Hill will play the remaining minutes.
Saracens 24-3 Northampton Saints
54’ Saracens have just been utterly relentless, capitalising on every small mistake made by Saints and successfully shutting down every opportunity to attack.
In a break in the 53rd minute, Alex Lozowski was able to drive forward just pushing away defenders to gain 10 yards and it’s been far from an isolated incident.
Saracens’ defensive organisation has been almost complete and Northampton Saints have not been able to come close to scoring their first try of the match.
Saracens 24-3
47’ Saracens extend their advantage as Northampton Saints were unable to come out and turn the tide at the start of the second half.
Saracens win a penalty with Farrell maintaining his flawless kicking game to extend his side’s lead to more than 20 points.
Any chance of a Northampton Saints comeback feels far away here as Saracens have almsot been flawless.
Saracens 21-3 Northampton Saints
40’ The second half is underway at the StoneX Stadium
Saracens 21-3 Northampton Saints
40’ Half time and it’s Saracens who are firmly in the driving seat.
Northampton Saints have struggled to build attacks throughout the half, while Saracens have been utterly clinical, and Farrell has been outstanding in the centre of the pitch.
Three tries ahead and it’s already looking like it could be too much to come back from for Saints. The visitors have also been missing opportunities.
Maitland has two tries and Van Zyl the third, with Farrell not missing a single conversion and kicking the ball twice for the try-scorers to capitalise.
Saracens 21-3
30’ Saracens have a third try in less than half an hour.
Although there’s 50 minutes left that could already be an unassailable lead for Saracens.
It was only a moment of indecision, but that was enough for the home side to break through Saints’ lines.
Ivan Van Zyl was played through with a quick tap, and the scrum half broke to put the ball between the posts.
Farrell added the second two points from straight in front of the posts to extend his side’s lead even further.
Saracens 14-3 Northampton Saints
22’ Saracens and Maitland strike again!
Saracens capitalised from a maul, driving across from the line out. It was a perfect kick through to Maitland who just had to put the ball down over the line.
Owen Farrell had to be at his best to make the conversion from the kick which was almost at the touchline, but the England international dutifuly kicked the ball between the posts to extend his side’s advantage to 11 points.
Saracens 7-3 Northampton Saints
20’ Saints have struggled to contain Saracens’ kicking game throughout the match so far.
In the same way as they scored the first try, the home side have looked to kick over the top for players such as Maitland to run on to.
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