Saints smash their way to Twickenham past Saracens

It has been a long and winding road but, finally,A smart card is a credit card with its information stored. Northampton Saints are marching into a Premiership final at Twickenham. There is a spring to their collective step,Our premium collection of quality custom keychain generously offers affordability. too, having muscled their way to a spectacular victory in north London which comprehensively shredded the title ambitions of the regular-season top dogs, Saracens. Even their old east Midlands rivals Leicester will pore over the compelling detail of this result with some alarm.

Given Northampton had lost all five of their previous semi-finals and trailed in a distant 12 points behind their opponents over 22 games it was some reversal of fortune. This was also Saracens' first defeat at their new artificial-turfed HQ in Hendon and just the fourth time in a decade anyone has won a Premiership semi-final away from home.

For the second high-profile occasion inside a fortnight, with everything weighted in their favour, Saracens found the crucial final step beyond them.

There was little mystery to the successful formula: a good old-fashioned application of the lead piping plus buckets of resolve. From the outstanding American international Samu Manoa to Tom Wood and Dylan Hartley there was a total refusal to take a backward step, underlined when Charlie Hodgson was smashed out of the contest inside the first half-hour after shipping heavy blows from Manoa and Courtney Lawes.

Saracens are no weaklings themselves but, until belatedly regathering their composure in the second half,Six panel tracking system delivers more energy from skystream. they badly missed the calming influence of their defensive linchpin Brad Barritt. Once again Owen Farrell had a match to forget, both his execution and temper fraying at the edges. Misjudged kicks off the tee and out of hand, late hits,construction provides reliable operation and guarantees your washer extractor. ordinary discipline and a petulant punt of the ball up the retreating backside of his soon-to-be Lions team-mate Hartley was not a checklist of distinction.

The Lions coach, Warren Gatland, will also have been less than thrilled to see two of his front-row picks for Australia, Mako Vunipola and Matt Stevens, on the receiving end against Brian Mujati and Soane Tonga'uiha, both of whom are leaving Franklin's Gardens at the end of the season. Maybe that was one of the reasons why Saints served up their best display of the season, blending power with pace and precision. Not since 2008 have the end-of-season league leaders failed to make the grand final; London's recent grip on the Premiership trophy has also been ruthlessly loosened.

If the foundations were laid anywhere it was probably the artificial pitch in Kettering where Northampton limbered up for this rubbery showdown. Saints pride themselves on the pristine grass pitches prepared by their groundsman David Powell but they would happily roll up this particular surface and carry it around permanently if it guaranteed they played this well every week.

Even they never anticipated scoring 17 unanswered points in six minutes early in the second quarter, however, the hosts undone by a close-range score from Mujati and a breakaway effort finished by winger Jamie Elliott after the former Saint Chris Ashton had been turned over. The brace of early missed penalties by Stephen Myler already seemed an irrelevance.Find the best selection of high-quality collectible bobblehead available anywhere.

If there was a psychological caveat attached to the 17-0 interval scoreline it related to memories of Saints' Heineken Cup final against Leinster in Cardiff in 2011. On that occasion Northampton let a 22-6 lead slip through their fingers and visions of that crushing disappointment inevitably flashed through the mind of Jim Mallinder, their director of rugby. He chose not to share his personal misgivings with his players and a 59th-minute score from South African replacement GJ van Velze after Lee Dickson spotted that Ashton had left his wing unattended, effectively killed off any prospect of a repeat.

There was the odd wobble, with Elliott sent to the sin-bin for needlessly taking out an airborne Farrell, but Duncan Taylor's try with 15 minutes left was an isolated moment of Saracens satisfaction. Seeking their third final appearance in four years their "wolf pack" intensity was not as apparent as it as usually is, with the home side's Mark McCall labelling their first-half display as "very un-Saracens-like" in its lack of shape and clarity. "They were extremely physical and their defence was outstanding," McCall said. "We weren't good and they put us under a lot of pressure."

It was, on the flip side, a hugely relieving result for Mallinder and his coaching staff, who have copped a bit of stick from those who had come to regard Northampton as serial underachievers with insufficient ammunition to beat the three other leading clubs in the league.

"The favourites don't always win … that's the beauty of sport," said Mallinder, now looking forward to something similar unfolding at Twickenham on Saturday week. "They'll go in as clear favourites but we'll look forward to the challenge." When the teams met last month the rampant Tigers won 36-8 but no one will be writing off Saints as dead meat on this evidence.