On the charge: Samu Manoa breaks through the Castres defence
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Northampton kept their slim chances of making the Heineken Cup quarter-finals alive by beating Castres 18-12 in a try-less clash at Franklin's Gardens on Friday.
Saints must now go in search of a bonus-point victory over Glasgow next weekend and hope that is enough tp qualify as one of the best pool runners-up.
That scenario looks like a long shot but Northampton will see a silver lining in the fantastic performance from England lock Courtney Lawes, who was named Man of the Match.
In what was far from a classic encounter, two penalties apiece from Stephen Myler and Rory Kockott saw the sides go into the break level at 6-6. But the respective boots of Myler and Ryan Lamb garnered the win for Northampton, even though Kockott added a pair of three-pointers in the second period.
Despite going down at home to Ulster 25-6 in round three, the Saints hit back at their critics in the return encounter, overcoming the Irish province 10-9 at Ravenhill.
Although Northampton were still able to qualify from the pool as one of the best runners-up, the visitors were also in the race for the quarter-finals having emerged victorious in three of their games this season.
And they moved into the lead through South African scrum-half Kockott before Northampton hit back and levelled through a Myler penalty.
Northampton's fly-half then added his second from the tee to take the score to 6-3 in the home team's favour, but another three-pointer from Castres' half-back restored parity.
Anton Peikrishvili was sin-binned for the Top 14 outfit just before half-time, but the Saints failed to take advantage of the extra man.
Jim Mallinder's men eventually retook the lead after 50 minutes when Myler continued his form with the boot.
Substitute Lamb then extended the gap to 12-6 as the hosts took control. Kockott and Lamb then traded two penalties apiece late in the game as Northampton came away with the win.
The scorers:
For Northampton:
Pens: Myler 3, Lamb 3
For Castres:
Pens: Kockott 4
Yellow card: Peikrishvili
Northampton: 15 Ben Foden, 14 James Wilson, 13 George Pisi, 12 Dom Waldouck, 11 Jamie Elliott, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Phil Dowson, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Calum Clark, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Samu Manoa, 3 Paul Doran-Jones, 2 Dylan Hartley (capt), 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Tom Mercey, 19 Mark Sorenson, 20 GJ Van Velze, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Tom May.
Castres: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Max Evans, 13 Romain Cabannes, 12 Rémi Lamerat, 11 Marcel Garvey, 10 Daniel Kirkpatrick, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Yannick Caballero, 6 Jannie Bornman, 5 Iosefa Tekori, 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Anton Peikrishvili, 2 Mathieu Bonello, 1 Yannick Forestier.
Replacements: 16 Brice Mach, 17 Saimone Taumoepeau, 18 Michaël Coetzee, 19 Matthias Rolland, 20 Paul Bonnefond, 21 Pedrie Wannenburg, 22 Pierre Bernard, 23 Thomas Sanchou.
Venue: Franklin's Gardens
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Paul Haycock (Ireland), Michael Black (Ireland)
Television match official: Peter Ferguson (Ireland)
Timekeeper: Matthew Peters (England)
Citing commissioner: Douglas Hunter (Scotland)
Assessor: Fergus Neil (Scotland)
Comments
bullitt says...
How can Dickson, with his constant low-and-long long box kicking, and Myler, with his oh-so-surprising mungoball inside pass, be considered good?
Saints picking up wins like that then harping on about "progreess" is papering over the cracks of much deeper problems. I'll eat my hat if they achieve anything noteworthy this season. I reckon they'll be dumped out of the Amlin in the ko stage, dumped out of the LV at the first chance and fail to even reach the playoffs this season.
Posted 21:46 13th January 2013
NHsaints says...
Lawes and Launchbury. There is no doubt now. That performance was absolutely fantastic, I think he was a little tired in the second period but that's only because of how much he did in the first half. It's tough on Parling who has been very good for England but at least he can keep a place on the bench. Calum Clark had a very good showing, Dowson was pretty good (he never seems quite his best against big packs) Dickson apart from a couple of wayward kicks was fantastic, Tonguiha and PDJ were excellent and Hartley was back to his solid best, Myler was really really good in the first half but tailed off a bit in the second (not his fault), Pisi got practically no ball so was pretty quiet and Both wingers (Elliot especially) were very industrious. Foden is nearing his return to full form with a good performance and last but not least...Dom Waldouck. Not good enough is the only thing I can think about that, he simply got ahead of Myler or received the ball 20 meters back and charged across the field not forward, if we had Downey still playing for us we would have 3 tries at least last night from where our 12 needed to straighten but just drifted. 12 is still a problem area for Northampton, we need to either go for the predictable crash ball and play Luther Burrel or we need to sign a 12 who can actually play good rugby.
Posted 10:46 12th January 2013
ArmchairGeneral says...
Tv: agree. Great news. Tough on Parling whos been good and improving but he has to drop to bench. Lawes has finally moved back into starting 15 for England. Lineout without Parling could do with Croft + Wood. Lancaster has a tough call but think Robshaw has to go to bench or play at no8
Posted 08:02 12th January 2013
melkdave says...
Have to say i wasnt to optomistic that Saints would get a bonus point victory tbh.Castes though not spectacular are a solid team with some class.A victory was essential though,and happy Saints achived that.Lawes was amazing espically in the 1st half.Saints like Leinster are in a very tricky position,19 points just might not be enough,to progress.
Posted 01:18 12th January 2013
TVaddict says...
How good was Lawes! I had him as my man of the match after 15 mins when he'd stolen two lineouts, taken a attacking restart, two excellent tackles which stopped promising attacks, and a line break. A future of Lawes and Launchbury is a truly fearsome prospect!
Posted 22:34 11th January 2013