Sam Vesty’s creative attack should pose problems for the Irish province.
THE BEST THING about Northampton is the balance in their game. It means Leinster have to tick a fair few boxes as they prepare for Saturday’s Champions Cup semi-final at Croke Park.
As Munster experienced in the Round of 16, Northampton strike with great accuracy from lineout and scrum, with their slick back play thriving off strong set-piece foundations. Just over 60% of Saints’ scores originate at the set-piece, according to Opta. It’s also worth pointing out that halfbacks Mitchell and Smith are frequent carriers on top of being the main distributors. Mitchell is clever around the fringes of the breakdown, constantly scanning for space to scoot with the ball and either break or tie in defenders before passing. Smith likes to dart at the line and his run threat has to be respected.
Former rugby league star Lee Radford is in charge of their defence, which has conceded an average of 2.5 tries per game in this competition. That’s clearly not as impressive as Leinser’s 1.5 per game on average, but it means the Saints are more miserly than most other Champions Cup clubs. Second row Alex Coles is generally their lineout leader and obviously a key jumper but Lawes has had the most lineout takes for the Saints by some distance with 30. Lawes also has a team-leading three lineout steals, while Coles and fellow lock Alex Moon have picked off opposition throws.
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