Lowe hat-trick sees Leinster survive late Northampton surge at Croke Park

Ciarán Kennedy Reports from Croke Park Leinster 20 Northampton Saints 17 LEINSTER ARE ONE game away from Champions Cup glory after overcoming a dogged Northampton Saints side at Croke Park.

The province led by 12 at half-time thanks to two James Lowe tries and a Ross Byrne penalty, and appeared to put the game beyond any real doubt when Lowe added his third shortly after the restart. There was a hesitancy about the visitors and against a team with the quality of Leinster, that indecision gets punished. The first blow arrived after Alex Mitchell and George Hendy got their wires crossed as they attempted to claim a kick into the Saints 22. Hendy knocked the ball on and Leinster used the subsequent penalty to put the squeeze on.

With Saints again acting too slow in possession around halfway, Byrne jumped out of the line to intercept a Finn Smith pass and for a moment, it looked as though the out-half was going to have a Brian O’Driscoll moment at Croker. Unfortunately for Byrne, he doesn’t have the same pace as the former centre and needed the cavalry to back up his charge toward the 22.

The next score didn’t arrive until just after the half-hour mark, Byrne kicking a penalty from a central position after Northampton were pinged at the scrum. When the score didn’t come Leinster recycled the ball across the pitch, with Dan Sheehan showing great hands to find Frawley, the fullback then sending Lowe over for his hat-trick try in front of the Hill.When the Saints did get into the 22 they were met with a ferocious Leinster defence. A big McCarthy hit forced a Northampton knock-on before another attack ended with Leinster ripping the ball away.

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