This time a year ago, Northampton surrendered a 22-point lead in the final quarter to lose yet again at Saracens. This time they did not. Only 13-0 up as the game approached the hour mark, they managed to keep the champions at bay in a game that burst into life in the final half-hour.
“The reason we were calm when they came back is that we weren’t then,” said Phil Dowson, their director of rugby. “I don’t think it’s a case of ‘Let’s kill that ghost’; it’s more: ‘What does that experience tell us?’ I think the players managed that and the biggest thing was how calm they looked.”
