English prodigy’s stunning double downs injury-hit Munster and takes Northampton Saints into the Champions Cup quarter-finals

Youngster George Hendy came off the bench to touch down twice and help Northampton Saints into the Champions Cup quarter-finals following a 24-14 triumph over Munster.

The match was finely poised when 21-year-old Hendy rounded off a superb team move to take the Saints ahead before a brilliant individual effort confirmed their passage into the last-eight.

Munster had started the encounter excellently and deservedly earned a 14-7 advantage after half-an-hour through Sean O’Brien and Mike Haley tries.

Northampton had to work incredibly hard to remain in the game, but they managed to go into the break level at 14-14 thanks to James Ramm and Tommy Freeman tries.

In a thrilling contest, both teams had their chances in the second half, but it was Hendy’s heroics in the final quarter which decided the Champions Cup round-of-16 match.

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Northampton join Premiership rivals Harlequins and Exeter in next weekend’s quarter-finals where they will host South African side the Bulls, having proved their mettle and attacking class against Munster.

It was the first of those qualities that came to the fore in the first half and they impressively rope-a-doped their way through the opening 10 minutes, soaking up phase after phase of Munster’s early onslaught before hitting back with their first attack through Ramm.

The Irish visitors went straight back on the offensive to draw level through wing O’Brien and the frantic pace of the opening quarter continued as the rivals took it in turns to threaten the whitewash.

Munster were clearly on top, however, with their growing dominance founded on their ability to retain possession and intent to keep the ball moving, tactics that were creating holes in the home defence.

Haley was the next over after scrum-half Tom James had ducked under tackles to keep the move alive and in a sign of Northampton’s struggles, a turnover close to their line produced a loud cheer from their fans.

They were given more to shout about when Freeman raced over in the 36th minute once Saints had sucked in defenders following a scrum to create space in midfield.

The high-octane play continued into the second half but Munster were no longer able to hold on to the ball for such long stretches, while handling errors increasingly affected the endeavour shown.

Instead, Northampton were controlling territory and possession, and having seen a number of moves foiled by self-inflicted errors, their attack clicked into gear beautifully in the 61st minute for Hendy to cross.

The move started from a line-out inside Saints’ 22 with Smith racing forward and feeding Ollie Sleightholme off his wing with a delayed pass before Ramm sent Hendy over.

Smith failed with a conversion and then a penalty attempt, the wind intervening to make both kicks a lottery, but Hendy ended any doubt when he broke two tackles to touch down in the right corner.

The teams

Northampton: 15 James Ramm, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Tom James, 8 Sam Graham, 7 Lewis Ludlam (c), 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Alex Moon, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun
Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Temo Mayanavanua, 20 Angus Scott-Young, 21 Juarno Augustus, 22 Alex Mitchell, 23 George Hendy

Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Sean O’Brien, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne (c), 4 Thomas Ahern, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Eoghan Clarke, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 Mark Donnelly, 19 Jack O’Donoghue, 20 Alex Kendellen, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Shay McCarthy

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: David Sutherland (Scotland), Jonny Perriam (Scotland)
TMO: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)

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