The frenetic last 5 minutes when Leinster sealed their final spot

A SUPERB CONVERSION from wide on the left by Fin Smith, the second such place-kick from the Northampton out-half, means Leinster ’s lead has been reduced to three points.There’s no decision for Leinster to make with Byrne’s restart – it has to go long into the Northampton 22. Leinster ’s long restart means Northampton opt to use their kicking game to get out of their own 22.

Frawley has some space to go forward himself after initially stepping off his right foot, with team-mates around him, but opts to pass infield to the retreating Jack Conan, who is a stronger ball-carrier into traffic. Henshaw has always had good aerial skills and he wins this contest against James in commanding fashion to give Leinster a big boost.

Northampton have organised themselves well, getting good linespeed close to the ruck to dissuade further passes, as well as width in the defensive line and backfield cover, so there’s no obvious glaring opportunity for Leinster. O’Brien could possibly loft a bridge pass up over the top but he’d have to put decent height on it to clear Lowe first of all, giving Ramm plenty of time to cover across onto Osborne.

But referee Mathieu Raynal doesn’t believe either action is worthy of a penalty. Perhaps he doesn’t see either of them or maybe he doesn’t believe they have a major material effect on the game. Henshaw is on the other side of the breakdown but now Courtney Lawes, who has already contested aggressively at several previous breakdowns, goes for the kill.

Frawley also starts near the turnover and works back downfield, while the pacy Baird comes from the far side of the breakdown. Ramm slaloms back inside Baird and Frawley and it’s the backtracking O’Brien, having turned swiftly from his initial attempt to stop the ball, who dives to initiate the tackle on Ramm, with Frawley joining.

Further infield, on the edge of the Leinster defensive line, Conan and McCarthy have made a big effort to get back onside before racing forward aggressively, to further narrow Smith’s options. On the next phase, it’s impressive just how prepared Leinster are to come forward. This has become their calling card under Jacques Nienaber – the ability to generate linespeed even on phases after they have lost lots of ground.

Leinster are obviously feeling the fatigue now but so too are the Northampton players, having already been forced to make more than 200 tackles in this game.

Northampton Saints Scramble

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