No separating Saints and Racing
It was Saints first draw in 125 games in the top tier of European rugby and keeps them in the hunt for a top two finish in their pool as they chase another quarterfinal.
All the points came from the boots of the respective flyhalves – three apiece for home No.10 Steve Myler, who also missed once from the halfway line, and three from Dan Carter.
The closest either side came to scoring a try was in the 66th minute when Carter had a clearance kick from behind his own line charged down. The ball fell into the hands of home wing Jamie Elliott, but he couldn't force his way over to celebrated his 100th appearance for the club.
But Saints still had the put in at the five metre scrum, although replacement tighthead prop Paul Hill gave way a penalty and the chance went begging. Twice Racing led, but they conceded a penalty at 9-6 after a fracas in their 22.
Carter had been knocked over in a tackle by Alex Waller and the 'afters' led to World Cup Final referee and TMO Derek Bevan, the other Welshman who has controlled a World Cup Final at Twickenham, picked out Wenceslas Lauret for putting his arms around the neck of a home player.
That allowed Myler to level once again and a tight contest ended in draw – the second in a sequence of five away games without defeat in Europe for Racing. It mean they lead Pool Yhree by two points from Saints with a game in hand.
The scorers:
For Northampton Saints:
Pens: Myler 3
For Racing Metro:
Pens: Carter 3
Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Jamie Elliott, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 George North, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Sam Dickinson, 7 Teimana Harrison, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Matti Williams, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Christian Day, 20 Michael Paterson, 21 Kahn Fotuali'i, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Ken Pisi.
Racing Metro: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Henry Chavancy, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Chris Masoe, 7 Yannick Nyanga, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Francois van der Merwe, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Eddy Ben Arous.
Replacements: 16 Camille Chat, 17 Julien Brugnaut, 18 Cedate Gomes Sa, 19 Manuel Carizza, 20 Antonie Claassen, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Johan Goosen, 23 Marc Andreu.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Gwyn Morris (Wales), Wayne Davies (Wales)
TMO: Derek Bevan (Wales)
