Given that Castres’ last visit to the Franklin’s Gardens ended in a 38-8 defeat before Christmas, you’d be forgiven for putting a broader, more red-tinged spin on Saturday night’s Investec Champions Cup quarter-final. Northampton, after all, are laden with British and Irish Lions hopefuls; Fin Smith, Tommy Freeman, and Alex Mitchell chief among them.
Dare we add 20-year-old Henry Pollock to that list? Or even full-back George Furbank, playing in his first game since breaking his arm back in December?
Saturday night featured a Castres line-up which closer resembled a first choice XV than that cold winter evening. All Black Jack Goodhue was in the centres, while scrumhalf Jeremy Fernandez’s work off the tee temporarily kept his side in the contest. Round two of this fixture was initially a much tighter affair before Saints pulled away in the second half, 51-16 the final margin.
A more competitive contest, featuring niggle and yellow cards aplenty, may well stand to those being considered by Lions boss Andy Farrell. Anyone watching his Ireland side in recent years knows the English coach values how players respond to adversity more than anything else.
The initial plaudits go to Furbank, arguably the man with the most to do after missing the Six Nations. An injury to George Hendy saw the England full-back, right arm heavily bandaged, summoned from the bench after just four minutes. His first touch was to take a deft pass from Smith and break into the 22. On seven minutes, his sensational one-handed offload, thrown just before being tackled into touch, sent Freeman in for the opening score. This after the Saints wing had already burned past a defender in the build-up.
Furbank added a second assist when his grubber was finished off by hooker Curtis Langdon. He had a third try involvement with a score of his own just after half-time, a powerful finish from close range beginning Saints’ march out of sight.
Not that the final result came easily. In a tetchy first half, Smith was hit hard on multiple occasions. Such was the late nature of his handling, beautifully drawing in defenders, the collisions were legal. Just.
The local crowd was understandably protective of their young fly half. They grew even more vocal when Josh Kemeny thought he had scored. A last-ditch tackle shunted him into touch, but it was high. Bizarrely, Castres avoided a card and penalty try, referee Andrea Piardi deciding to award just a penalty.
Home frustration grew when it looked like Pollock had combined with Kemeny to pull off a try-saving tackle close to the Northampton line. Fernandez grounded the ball after the superb recovery. Despite home cries of a knock-on while looking at the big screen, the score stood. Castres trailed just 15-10 after 25 minutes.
Eventually, Piardi began to agree with some of the ire aimed at the visitors by those on the terraces. Castres’ dominance of the defensive breakdown yielded three first half turnovers, but their belligerence eventually saw penalties swing the other way. Multiple infringements resulted in Leone Nakarawa being sent to the bin. Alex Coles scored off a clever maul play from the resulting lineout.
Fernandez notched a penalty either side of half-time to mitigate against the card damage, but Saints ultimately found a way of breaking the visiting resistance. Furbank’s score was followed by the now customary pair of Pollock highlight reels. Twice he ran off the shoulder of a jinking Mitchell, twice he scored under the posts.
One celebration featured an NFL-style spike of the ball. The other was a basketball shot towards the crowd. Call it youthful exuberance if you like, but this 20-year-old is certainly enjoying his rugby.
What he did not enjoy was a dangerous clearout of which he was the target. That collision and the subsequent melee saw Remy Baget and Lois Guerois-Galisson binned for Castres. Northampton’s Temo Mayanavanua suffered the same fate for retaliating.
Northampton’s reward for this victory is a semi-final date in Dublin with Leinster, the second time in as many years they’ve met the Irish side. Given the dour nature of their Premiership title defence, Europe presents the Saints’ last hope at silverware. Last year, they gave Leinster a scare. This time around, the Irish province seems to be a different beast, their swarming, Jacques Nienaber-led defence nilling Harlequins and Glasgow in back-to-back knockout matches.
The bookies will tell you a Northampton appearance in May’s final is unlikely. Yet the individual battles will be worth the price of admission alone. Injury-permitting, Furbank should start opposite Hugo Keenan. Freeman and James Lowe, favoured Lions starters, will be running down the same wing. Pollock and Josh van der Flier should both wear seven on the day, while Smith will have his own personal battle with Sam Prendergast. Mitchell – named player of the match tonight – will square off against Jamison Gibson-Park.
Such Lions permutations the weekend before Farrell – who lives just around the corner from the Aviva Stadium – names his touring party? Go on then.
