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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Your support makes all the difference.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 7-3 Northampton Saints
17’ Both sides have continued testing each other without finding the key breakthroughs.
Northampton Saints will want to capitalise on their penalty kicks however, at least once they have failed to find touch and instead found themselves on the back foot rather than gaining an advantage.
Saracens have been largely in control, but there have been errors from both sides.
Saracens 7-3 Northampton Saints
8’ Almost immediately after Saracens scored the first try, Saints reduced the deficit with a penalty.
Fin Smith calmy kicked the ball between the posts to put the first points on the board for the visitors.
Saracens 7-0 Northampton Saints
6’ After a frantic start, Saracens drew first blood with the first try of the match.
Maitland capitalised after Northampton Saints were caught on their heels slightly.
It was a clever move from the home side, who kicked the ball over the top for Maitland to pounce and run through the remaining defender to put the ball straight under the posts.
Owen Farrell made no mistakes with the conversion to give his side a 7-0 lead inside the first seven minutes.
Saracens vs Northampton
3’ Northampton Saints had an early penalty following a collision.
There was an in-air collision between Sean Maitland and George Furbank, and while the incident was discussed, only a penalty was given.
Saints were unable to capitalise and Saracens almost scored from receiving the ball behind their own dead-ball line, but were unable to finish off the move in what started as an end-to-end contest.
Saracens vs Northampton
The game has been kicked off by Northampton Saints.
Northampton director of rugby insisted his side are well-rested and prepared for the semi-final having had an extended break between recent fixtures.
Phil Dowson told BT Sport: “(We are) looking forward to it, we’re excited about the challenge. We’ve had three weeks without a Premiership game so we’ve been managing the players and getting ready for today.
“We know what we need to do today, we know how good the opposition are and what their record is here and everything.”
The semi-final will be played in front of a sell-out home Saracens crowd as they bid to reach the final on 27 May.
They have also dominated in the league this season, and have arrived at the StoneX stadium ahead of kick off.
Mark McCall said to BT Sport: “We hope we’ve been building for the last nine months to play our best rugby in games like this.
“Today is really important that we can get control of the game, there’s fundamentals that we need to do really well.
“And also take the game to them.”
With less than half an hour from kick, the players have begun warming up, but England international Jamie George has taken some time away from the occasion.
The hooker told BT Sport: “There’s different energy going on in the training room but I just like being relaxed. 10 minutes time we’ll go out onto the field and things will heat up a little bit.”
Ben Earl remained confident alongside his teammate however, telling the broadcaster: “We’ve used a lot of the squad this year, it’s got a lot more experience than it has previously.”
Saracens have already played nine times in English rugby’s domestic showcase, with this year’s match taking place on May 27.
They have also dominated in the league this season, and have arrived at the StoneX stadium ahead of kick off.
Northampton Saints’ have won just three times away from home all season in the Premiership, and boast an unenviable record of two wins in 11 semi-finals.
However, Saints will be encouraged by their victory, and even Saracens rugby director Mark McCall admitted they are dangerous.
McCall told the media: “They (Northampton) are a very good team, an unbelievably dangerous team, full of talented players in their squad. And this is their second semi-final in a row, so they have shown some really good consistency as well.”
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