5 Things You Missed: Northampton 51-16 Castres – Scraps at Franklin's Gardens as Saints make Champions Cup semi-finals

04/12/2025 03:37 PM

By Tom Harrington

Northampton Saints have booked their place in the semi-finals of the Investec Champions Cup, following a seven-try win over Castres Olimpique. It was a scrappy afternoon at Franklin's Gardens, with multiple brawls springing up amongst the one-sided try scoring.

5 THINGS YOU MISSED: NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 51-16 CASTRES OLIMPIQUE

1. The return of George Furbank

the English fullback broke his arm in Saints' 30-21 win over the Bulls in Pretoria back in December and was brought on earlier than expected in the Investec Champions Cup quarter-final.

After winger George Hendy was forced due to a shoulder injury in the third minute Furbank was called in to action almost immediately, providing a superb offload to assist Tommy Freeman in Northampton's first try and a grubber kick for Curtis Langdon. Getting one of his own in the 44th minute, appearing to feel some numbness in his heavily strapped left arm and eventually substituted off in the 55th minute.

2. Castres tanking after hot Saints start

The visitors appeared to be breathing rather heavily in the 17th minute after the Saints had an enormous amount of the ball in the opening quarter. Despite looking the keener of the two sides coming out for the second-half, the tired looking bodies continued with Castres caught out on multiple occasions at the breakdown for not rolling away and their clear outs not proving strong enough against an energetic Saints.

3. Fraser Dingwall's cool head

Stand-in captain while Furbank was absent but the centre truly keeps the Saints together. When Josh Kemeny's efforts were chalked off, the centre listened to the referee and understood what he was being told, no complaints. Saints then profited from their penalty with a five-point score. Despite Northampton losing some natural leadership at the end of last season such as Courney Lawes and Alex Waller, Dingwall has definitely stepped up to fill in these last few months.

4. Disruptive discipline as four plays sent to sin bin

One yellow card for Northampton compared to Castres' three. Leone Nakarawa saw yellow for an accumulation of penalties against Castres, the black, green and gold immediately making use of the man advantage as Alex Coles bundled through a gap on the whitewash. A silly strike from Remy Baget on Henry Pollock, which will never go down well in these parts, caused a brawl resulting in another yellow for the Top 14 side and one for Temo Mayanavanua. It had been brewing with some handbags in the first-half from both teams until boiling point was met.

5. Franklins' Gardens crowd at full voice for quarter-final triumph

The Northampton crowd reading the room and the tempo of the game, getting behind their team. Despite a strong territorial first period from the hosts, they only lead 20-13 at half-time. Their loudest cheer of the evening – of course it's Henry Pollock's try, being sat on Alex Mitchell's shoulder will always provide positively. A brace for the 20-year-old, again assisted by Mitchell, the youngster proving himself week after week, constantly at the breakdown wanting a jackal to become available but experienced enough to know when he will be penalised. Truly putting his hand into the Lions mix.

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