Investec Champions Cup: Northampton Saints edge Munster to reach quarter-finals, Toulouse thrash Racing 92

A late George Hendy double helped Northampton Saints beat Munster 24-14 and move into the quarter-finals of the Investec Champions Cup.

It was a thriller at Franklin’s Gardens that swung back and forth before the 21-year-old came off the bench in the second half to settle the match in style.

The win earned the Gallagher Premiership leaders a home tie against the Bulls in the last eight next week.

Northampton edged a close contest when the two sides met in the group stage in January, and it was another tight affair with a place in the quarter-finals up for grabs.

After withstanding an early onslaught and holding up John Hodnett over the line, Northampton opened the scoring when James Ramm breached the Munster defence in the 10th minute, but the visitors hit back in an action-packed opening period.

Sean O’Brien ran a scything line to burst through a tackle and touch down before Mike Haley’s try in the 28th minute put Munster ahead.

But Saints ended the first half in the ascendancy and levelled at 14-14 going in at the break after Tommy Freeman continued his fine form to surge over.

The sides remained locked with 20 minutes remaining, when Hendy replaced Burger Odendaal, and his impact was immediate.

Hendy finished off a brilliant move with his first touch of the game and added another try 12 minutes later to seal a hard-fought victory.

Toulouse completed the quarter-final line-up after scoring five tries in a dominant 31-7 victory over Racing 92 at the Ernest-Wallon stadium.

The all-French clash was highly anticipated but it turned into a one-sided affair as the hosts proved far too good and set up a meeting with Exeter Chiefs next week.

The big story in the build-up was the return of Antoine Dupont and the reformation of the scrum-half’s partnership with Romain Ntamack.

But it was a dominant lineout drive that led to the deadlock being broken, Peato Mauvaka touching down in the sixth minute.

That sparked a response from Racing, who should have scored in the 19th minute but were held up over the line after a last-ditch tackle by Jack Willis.

Stuart Lancaster’s side were made to pay for their profligacy. Matthis Lebel finished off a slick counter to make it 10-0 at the break before Paul Costes, Pita Ahki and Alexandre Roumat notched second-half tries to put the result beyond doubt.

Racing managed a consolation through Eddy Ben Arous, but they were well beaten as their bid for a maiden Champions Cup title was ended for another year.

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