Northampton Saints capitalised on Duncan Taylor’s red card as they defeated Saracens 38-29 to move up to fourth in the Premiership table.
Centre Taylor was given his marching orders in the eighth minute as Saracens suffered just their fourth defeat of the domestic campaign on Saturday.
Alex Moon, Lewis Ludlam, Tommy Freeman, Rory Hutchinson, Fin Smith and Fraser Dingwall scored for Saints on a warm day at Franklin’s Gardens.
Rotimi Segun (2), Manu Vunipola and Theo Dan responded for Saracens as they impressed in claiming a bonus-point despite being one man down.
Click here for teams and scorers
Saracens may have been missing a host of big names at the outset, but they still opened the scoring in the fourth minute with an excellent try.
From a line-out near halfway, young centre Olly Hartley made the initial break before feeding Alex Lewington. The wing then launched a well-judged cross-field kick for Segun to perform heroics by collecting before cartwheeling into the corner.
Within three minutes, Saints should have been level but lock David Ribbans inexplicably lost possession in the act of diving over, so a period of sustained pressure went unrewarded.
The explosive start to the game continued when Taylor was sent off by referee Wayne Barnes but Saracens temporarily overcame that setback to extend their lead with a straightforward penalty from Vunipola.
After 19 minutes, Saints got onto the scoreboard when a succession of bursts from their powerful back-row put the visitors’ defence on the back foot for Alex Mitchell to send Moon over.
The home side soon scored another. James Ramm raced away down the right flank to chip ahead and win a position in the opposition 22. From there, the ball was swiftly recycled for skipper Ludlam to crash over with Smith’s conversion putting his side in front for the first time.
Saints continued to entertain the crowd with some exhilarating passages of play, but too often, they failed to capitalise by carelessly dropping passes when seeming likely to score.
However, their enterprise was eventually rewarded when Freeman was given the opportunity to leave Ruben de Haas standing to score Northampton’s third and leave them with a 19-10 half-time advantage.
😇 Superb finish from Tommy Freeman. #GallagherPrem #NORvSARpic.twitter.com/OlFENllM9w
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) April 15, 2023
Within three minutes of the restart, Saracens were blown away by another breathtaking score.
From a scrum near their own 22, Saints created acres of space for Ramm to hare into the opposition’s 22, with Hutchinson benefitting from the visitors’ lack of numbers to score the bonus-point try.
Ramm was injured in the move and departed clutching his shoulder, but nothing could stop rampant Saints as Smith strolled over for their fifth try.
Resilient Saracens showed some spirit to respond with a converted try from Vunipola, but Segun picked up a yellow card for a dangerous challenge on George Furbank.
In the wing’s absence, Dingwall added another try, but remarkably, despite playing with 13, Saracens managed a third score through Dan.
Segun also returned in time to see his side dominate the final 10 minutes, with the wing scoring his second in the dying seconds to earn Saracens a bonus point of their own.
Harlequins claim key win over Newcastle
Elsewhere, Harlequins picked up a crucial 48-20 bonus-point win over Newcastle Falcons to keep their hopes of making the play-offs very much alive.
Louis Lynagh made a successful comeback from knee surgery to celebrate his maiden appearance of the season with a try.
The England prospect, son of Australia great Michael, had been sidelined for the entire 2022/23 season to date after undergoing two operations, but he impressed for the 54 minutes he was on the field at Twickenham Stoop.
Quins were forced to battle hard for a bonus-point victory that lifted them to sixth in the Premiership after Freddie Lockwood’s 66th-minute try, made possible by the genius of Mateo Carreras, which threatened an upset.
But nerves were steadied when Alex Dombrandt went over for his second try in front of England boss Steve Borthwick, who can only have been pleased by his number eight’s all-action display.
Joe Marchant made his final appearance at The Stoop before joining Stade Francais next season, scoring a popular touchdown but also missing the final conversion from in front of the posts.
For all their dominance of the opening quarter, Quins were unable to register a point, although there were minor wins across the pitch.
Dombrandt and Andre Esterhuizen made telling runs before a scrum penalty ignited a spell of relentless pressure on the home line that saw a Danny Care try ruled out for obstruction by the prone Wilco Louw.
It was the end of Louw’s afternoon, and given that he had to be helped from the pitch with what appeared to be a significant injury, he is likely to have played his last game for Quins ahead of his return to South Africa at the end of the season.
The hosts continued to press, but The Stoop was stunned into silence when Newcastle scrambled free from their own line, wings Carreras and Adam Radwan combining for the Argentina international to score under the posts.
Brett Connon’s conversion and penalty gave the Falcons a 10-0 lead, but Quins’ attack began to align with Esterhuizen capitalising on a big hole in defence to touch down.
Sensing blood, the two-time Premiership champions renewed the attack in first-half overtime and exploited the blindside, with Lynagh scoring with ease in the right corner.
The lead changed hands once more through Connon’s pinpoint kicking, but gaps were now appearing in the visiting defence with greater frequency, allowing Marcus Smith to come to the fore.
Quins’ third try was all too easy as extra numbers enabled Josh Bassett to stroll over, and once Esterhuizen had bumped off two tackles, the bonus point was secure.
🃏 There's no stopping Andre Esterhuizen from that range. #HARvNEWpic.twitter.com/Zc2CZS0f3y
Click Here: f1 racing suit for sale
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) April 15, 2023
Newcastle were not helped by having Callum Chick sin-binned for collapsing a maul, but with their openside back on the field, they found a renewed sense of purpose and camped themselves in enemy territory.
When their try came, it started deep in their own half, Carreras’ slaloming run leaving tacklers chasing shadows and while he was stopped just short, Lockwood was on hand to finish.
But the uprising ended immediately when Dombrandt showed strength to cross for a second time with late tries from Dino Lamb, Marchant and Fin Baxter distorting the final scoreline.