The team that won the Heineken Cup for Northampton back in 2000 were out on the field at half-time of this match, Paul Grayson, Ben Cohen, Ali Hepher and the rest of them, taking an anniversary lap of honour for their 9-8 victory over Munster in the final that year. It’s maybe long odds this current squad will be doing likewise in 25 years’ time given the strength of the competition, but they are at least a little shorter than they were. They beat Munster, again, in a very different sort of game, 34-32 this time, and earned themselves home advantage in the last 16 by doing it.
Saints had to work hellishly hard for it. The Munstermen just absolutely would not quit, even when they were as good as out of it. It was one of those matches that the victors had to win once, twice, three times before they were finally able to kick the ball out and celebrate their victory. They had a nine-point lead going into the last quarter, and Munster clawed their way back to within two when Conor Murray put Diarmuid Kilgallen through with a wizardly flick behind his back. Saints scored again, and had a nine-point lead once more, when Kilgallen scored a second to make it a two-point game match all over.
