Leinster cling on to beat Northampton Saints and book their place in Champions Cup final

Hill 16 sang for the boys and the guys in blue but somehow Leinster were clinging on in the red before reaching their eighth Champions Cup final.

Back on the northside of Dublin and in Croke Park for the first time since the famous semi-final victory over Munster in 2009, this latest day will also go down in the annals of the province’s storied history.

That game 15 years ago was marked by a dominant Leinster display and, with 43 minutes on the clock, a similar script was being written as Leo Cullen’s side led 20-3.

James Lowe and fellow Irish Kiwi Jamison Gibson-Park were the stars of the province’s attack, with Lowe scoring a hat-trick and Gibson-Park producing yet another man of the match display.

But it took defensive heroism in the end to get the Blues over the line as the Saints came marching back.

Crocked Ciarán Frawley made a crucial tackle to deny the visitors before sub Jack Conan won the vital turnover that effectively finished it.

Then Harry Byrne’s kick to touch confirmed that the Blues are heading to London and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the final against Toulouse or Harlequins in three weeks’ time.

Having won the first four of them but lost the last three, there is an understanding that there is still a big job to do after this.

After sitting out Leinster’s last final victory in 2018, Lowe is on fire at the business end of this season.

Leinster’s James Lowe celebrates after winning

The winger stunned the Saints with a two-try salvo in the 11th and 16th minutes, then crossed for his hat-trick just three minutes into the second half.

It was a score that sealed the outcome and, fittingly, it was the best of the three.

The first was a thing of beauty in itself as the ever-vigilant Gibson-Park took a quick five metre tap penalty and floated a pass to the left, over Saints scrum-half Alex Mitchell and into Lowe’s arms.

James Ramm couldn’t stop his forward momentum and Lowe was over, with Ross Byrne nailing the conversion.

Gibson-Park was also vital to the making of Lowe’s second, batting the loose ball wide to his colleague after Caelan Doris was held up but managed to get the pill free to his scrum-half.

Renowned for their broken field and counter attack, the Saints weren’t given a sniff as their opponents’ blitz defence left them dazed and confused – with Byrne almost in for an intercept try off Fin Smith’s attempted pass.

Byrne made it 15-0 from in front of the posts as his forwards secured a scrum penalty in the 26th minute but, as half-time approached, a big turnover win by Courtney Lawes on Joe McCarthy shifted the momentum.

Ross Byrne

It was the hosts’ turn to hold out as Ramm dropped a try-scoring opportunity but Smith finally got the Saints on the board with a 40th minute penalty.

As they did against La Rochelle, the Blues started the third quarter in devastating fashion.

Skipper Doris took off through a big gap in the Saints’ midfield cover and Jordan Larmour almost sent Robbie Henshaw away on the right.

Leinster quickly recycled, Dan Sheehan superbly kept it alive and Frawley sent Lowe over.

It was his sixth try in as many games in Europe this season – and his fifth in the last two.

Byrne missed the conversion and Leinster failed to kick on. It was do or die for the Saints now and they responded.

Frawley did well to cover Juarno Augustus’ kick-chase down the right flank but, on the stroke of the hour, the Saints had a lifeline in the shape of their first try.

George Hendy’s difficult afternoon improved dramatically when his chip in hope wasn’t dealt with by Larmour and the winger himself pounced.

Smith landed the tough conversion and suddenly the game was alive again.

Byrne’s subsequent penalty attempt from the Saints’ 10m line should have settled the Blues down.

But a bad miss gave the visitors more encouragement and, six minutes from time, replacement Tom Seabrook raced over with the Saints attacking off a five-metre scrum conceded by Gibson-Park.

Smith kept the pressure on with another superb conversion and there were only three points between the teams with four minutes to play.

Frawley, who had been injured before the try, played on and Leinster were lucky that he stayed in the fight as he prevented the Saints from breaking through down the right.

Conan’s turnover was greeted by a deafening roar from the record 82,300 crowd and Leinster were safe. Just about.

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