Player ratings: Northampton

OPINION: Northampton fell short in their pursuit of a second Champions Cup title on Saturday, losing to Bordeaux-Begles 28-20 at the Millennium Stadium.

The Saints were already underdogs heading into the match, and lost two players to injury within the first five minutes, which only made the challenge much harder, but managed to go in at the break level at 20-20.

But the English outfit couldn’t get a foothold in the second half and barely made troubled the Top 14 giants in attack. Then again, there were some valiant performances in defeat.

Here’s how the players rated:

15. George Furbank – N/A
The Saints captain had been out since the quarterfinals after aggravating his previously broken arm, and was stretchered off after five minutes following a gruesome collision.

14. Tommy Freeman – 6
The only surviving member of the starting back three after five minutes, and found himself covering acres of space against the most potent attack in the game. Chased back and retrieved a Bielle-Biarrey chip and chase, which few can do in world rugby, and was called upon to cover a couple of the winger’s kicks. Summed up a gripping battle he had with the Frenchman. Was yellow-carded for a mistimed tackle after failing to gather a kick in the backfield. Some strong carries, and chased kicks well, but succumbed to the pressure exerted on his side.

13. Fraser Dingwall – 6
A crucial cog in the Saints’ second try, timing his pass perfectly to Ollie Sleightholme. Took on much of the playmaking responsibilities, linking with Fin Smith, but just could not get the backline to do enough to trouble the new champions.

12. Rory Hutchinson – 5
Missed a tackle on Matthieu Jalibert, which resulted in the France flyhalf creating the second try of the match. Was an uphill task for the Scot, being forced into a position change minutes after the start.

11. James Ramm – N/A
Limped off the field early last weekend and only managed a matter of minutes this week.

10. Fin Smith – 5
Found himself under immense pressure early in the first half, which resulted in a penalty conceded and handling errors, although one was harsh. Like much of the Saints backline, he found himself making more of a defensive effort in the second half, as they failed to score a point. His goal-kicking was a positive though.

9. Alex Mitchell – 4
A quick tap in the opening minutes could have been scrutinised had it not resulted in the try, but the results paid off. Had to play with tempo, but that did result in a few misplaced passes – possibly a few too many. Found himself under the high ball late on and struggled in that department.

1. Emmanuel Iyogun – 7
Just minutes after conceding a scrum penalty against Ben Tameifuna, the loosehead responded with a penalty of his own just metres from his line. Solid in the set-piece elsewhere. Left the field after 65 minutes with the most tackles at the time (14).

2. Curtis Langdon – 5
Showed no signs of the shoulder injury he sustained last weekend, making 13 tackles before being substituted after an hour. Was brought back on for the final minutes, which included a not-straight line-out and a knock-on.

3. Trevor Davison – 5
Stood up against the Bordeaux scrum and repelled plenty of driving mauls where Bordeaux looked destined to score, but, like many of his teammates, was on the wrong side of Nika Amashukeli’s whistle.

4. Temo Mayanavanua – 5
Was the third Saints player to leave the field injured in the first half, leaving the side without a dependable carrier.

5. Tom Lockett – 6
Staggering strength to hold up Maxime Lamothe when the hooker simply needed to flop over the line from the back of a maul. A huge intervention, but it was not enough.

6. Alex Coles – 8
Recovered from a knee injury, passing a late fitness test and made an immediate impact to wrestle the ball over the line after a matter of seconds and was on hand to finish off a wonderful move at the end of the first half – a try that started from his pull-back pass to Mitchell. He was in no way faultless, though, with a couple of penalties, including a shirt-pull that cancelled out a Henry Pollock try. A line-out steal five metres from his line was a flourish at the end in a losing effort. Saints’ best player.

7. Josh Kemeny – 5
Reliable option at the line-out, and troubled Bordeaux’s, but couldn’t make much of an impact when carrying. Caught out with a penalty for playing the No.9, just one of a number of second-half penalties.

8. Henry Pollock – 5
Crossed the line twice – once for being offside chasing a kick and once for foul play off the ball – but outside of that, the 20-year-old superstar was quiet. Still had some flashes of brilliance, though, with a turnover under his sticks.

Replacements

16. Craig Wright – 3
Had the ball ripped from his clutches minutes after coming on and had a botched line-out on top of that before Saints opted to bring Langdon back on.

17. Tarek Haffar – 7
Scorer of two tries, including the match-winner, against Saracens last week, and brought the same punch and deceptive footwork with ball-in-hand in his 15-minute cameo. A scrum penalty as well capped a strong stint.

18. Elliot Millar-Mills – 6
Scrum penalty won, as Saints got the upper hand in the scrum in the final quarter.

19. Ed Prowse – 4
Yellow carded for a high tackle, though his side were able to hold on.

20. Angus Scott-Young – 5
A quiet cameo in the final 20 minutes.

21. Tom James – N/A
Was only given a handful of minutes.

22. Tom Litchfield – 6
Thrown into the action early to replace Furbank and defended resolutely against an effervescent attack in a makeshift backline. Saved his side when chasing a hack made by Bielle-Biarrey.

23. Ollie Sleightholme – 5
The England wing made his return following ankle surgery in March and was called upon within minutes. Showed his Test class with an offload to Coles to level the score at half-time. Made some metres out wide but maybe did not trouble the Bordeaux defence enough.