Northampton edge Munster in thriller

MATCH REPORT: English wing Tom Seabrook scored a hat-trick as Northampton held on to beat Munster 34-32 on Saturday to secure a top-seed spot from Pool Three into the last 16 of the Champions Cup.

Seabrook, 25, crossed in a 54-minute window in a rousing encounter as 2000 winners Saints secured their place as one of four group winners to guarantee potential home ties in the competition until the semifinals.

The two-time champions from Ireland, who were within two of the hosts with 80 seconds to play, had booked their place in the next round before kick-off after the Bulls hammered Stade Francais 48-7 earlier in the day.

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With the help of Calvin Nash’s two tries, Munster led 15-12 at half-time.

But a double in the second half from Seabrook to add to his try in the first 40, along with scores from Curtis Langdon and James Ramm, meant Saints took the victory despite two second-half tries from Munster’s Diarmuid Kilgallen pushed them all the way.

After Jack Crowley converted Kigallen’s second, it closed the gap to just two points with a few minutes remaining.

However, Henry Pollock – having come on as a substitute late on – secured the game-winning turnover for Saints.

The scorers:

For Northampton Saints:
Tries: Seabrook 3, Langdon, Ramm
Cons: Smith 3
Pen: Smith

For Munster:
Tries: Nash 2, Kigallen 2
Cons: Crowley 3
Pens: Crowley 2

Yellow card: Gavin Coombes (Munster, 40′)

Teams:

Northampton: 15 James Ramm, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Fraser Dingwall (captain), 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Tom Seabrook, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Josh Kemeny, 5 Tom Lockett, 4 Alex Coles, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Tarek Haffar.
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Tom West, 18 Luke Green, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Angus Scott-Young, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Tom James, 23 Tom Litchfield.

Munster: 15 Mike Haley; 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Diarmuid Kilgallen; 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Conor Murray; 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne (captain), 4 Fineen Wycherley, 3 Oli Jager, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Dian Bleuler.
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 John Ryan, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Tom Ahern, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Tony Butler, 23 Brian Gleeson.

Referee: Nika Amashukeli
Assistant referees: Saba Abulashvili, Shota Tevzadze
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen

AFP & @ChampionsCup