Northampton Saints faced a tough test from Castres but came through to reach the Champions Cup quarter-finals. Saints fell behind 12-0 early after tries from Christian Ambadiang and Theo Chabouni, but a penalty try and yellow card to Ambadiang gave Northampton a way back.
Danilo Fischetti scored for Saints, and they trailed 15-14 at halftime. Early in the second half, Josh Kemeny put Northampton ahead for the first time after captain George Furbank created space. Both sides kept scoring, with tries from Tommy Freeman and Furbank for Saints, and Tyler Ardron and Vuate Karawalevu for Castres.
Fraser Dingwall’s try finally gave Saints enough breathing room, though Ambadiang scored his second for Castres near the end. Castres’ early pressure caused Northampton some handling errors, letting the visitors take a strong lead, but Northampton fought back and eventually controlled the game.
With this win, Northampton reach the last eight of the Champions Cup for the third year in a row. Dingwall said: “It’s easy to forget how special this is when you do it a few times, but we’re enjoying the tournament and making some great memories.”
