Saints produce incredible performance to beat Leinster and book Champions Cup final spot

Phil Dowson's men were massive underdogs as they travelled to the Aviva Stadium for Saturday evening's clash, with Leinster bookies favourites to win the whole competition.

But the black, green and gold showed no fear from the off, flying into a 27-15 half-time lead with Tommy Freeman bagging a hat-trick and Henry Pollock scoring a stunner.

Saints had fronted up with Curtis Langdon in the sin bin during the first half, and they had to do so again in the second half after Josh Kemeny was yellow carded for a high tackle 13 minutes from time, while Alex Coles was sin-binned for not releasing in the closing seconds.

Leinster cut the lead to three points and had one final chance to win it, but Saints delivered some massive defence to turn the ball over on their own line, allowing Fin Smith to boot the ball out and spark wild scenes of celebration among those of a Northampton persuasion.

Saints can now look forward to facing the winners of Sunday's clash between Union Bordeaux Bègles and reigning champions Toulouse in the May 24 final at Cardiff's Principality Stadium.

Leinster, who beat Saints in the 2011 showpiece in the Welsh capital, had won their previous two knockout stage ties in this season’s competition without conceding a single point, scoring 114 in the process.

And the Irish giants attempted to turn the screw from the start against Saints, kicking a penalty to the corner and applying the pressure, but the black, green and gold stood tall against the lineout drive to turn the ball over.

The away side were looking calmer early on than they had done when they lost 20-17 at Croke Park a year earlier, and they were to strike first with a stunning score.

James Ramm launched a counter-attack from inside his own half and Smith found a lovely line, racing forward before kicking ahead for Freeman to gather and score.

Smith slotted the conversion superbly from the touchline and Leinster had shipped their first points of the Champions Cup knockout stages.

The home side looked to mount an instant response, cutting the gap with a Sam Prendergast penalty after Pollock was penalised for an off-the-ball shoulder charge on opposite number Josh van der Flier.

Saints were suddenly being submerged, conceding penalty after penalty to give Leinster a real platform inside the away 22.

And it didn't take long for them to make it pay, using a free-kick from a scrum from in front of the posts to start a move that saw Prendergast send Tommy O'Brien over on the right.

Prendergast missed the conversion and Saints grabbed the lead back after Leinster were penalised for offside from a Saints lineout that was earned thanks to fine work on the break from Freeman and Smith.

Leinster refused to panic though, instead flying back to the other end of the field and producing some rapid handling that caused real problems for Saints.

The black, green and gold were consistently being penalised and after van der Flier scored, Langdon was sin-binned for his side's persistent offending.

Saints were five points down and they could have felt the heat, but Pollock popped up to provide a moment of true inspiration, flying on to an Alex Mitchell pass and speeding around Prendergast to score a memorable try.

Smith converted and Saints led again, continuing to show they could trouble Leinster.

Langdon returned to the field and another score arrived as Saints moved the ball with lightning speed for Freeman to score on the right.

Smith missed the conversion, but Saints were getting up a head of steam as they grabbed a fourth try when Juarno Augustus charged forward and delivered a fantastic offload for Freeman, who still had work to do as he dived over in the corner under pressure.

Smith couldn't convert from the touchline and Leinster had a big chance to respond before the break, setting up camp in the Saints half, but the black, green and gold wall held firm to secure a penalty that brought an end to a frantic first 40 minutes.

Leinster knew they needed a strong start to the second half, and they got it thanks to an expertly-executed 50:22 from James Lowe.

That allowed Leinster to pile the pressure on and after they won a penalty, they set up a move that saw Caelan Doris power through the Saints defence to score.

Prendergast easily added the extras to cut the gap to five points, and Leinster were soon on the charge again, looking hungry inside the Saints 22.

Saints needed to find a way upfield, and when they did finally get into the Leinster half, they earned a penalty, which Smith slotted from long range to put his team eight points up.

Leinster responded quickly as Saints got trapped inside their own 22 when Augustus tried to run clear, with a breakdown penalty allowing the home side to go to the corner, powering over through van der Flier.

Prendergast missed the conversion and Saints somehow found a response again, flying back up the other end and producing a sublime score that involved incredible movement and handling before Ramm dived over.

Smith converted, but Saints were down to 14 men when Kemeny was sin-binned for a high tackle on Rabah Slimani.

That meant Saints had to play 10 of the final 12 minutes with 14 men and they were soon hit with an incredibly harsh penalty against Pollock in front of the posts.

The flanker was penalised for not releasing, even though there was a clear release, and Leinster opted to set up another move that eventually resulted in Lowe going over on the left.

Prendergast sent the conversion just inside the left post to cut the gap to three points, and Leinster came again in the final moments of the match.

After Alex Coles was yellow carded for not releasing on his own line, Leinster opted to tap a penalty and surge forward.

But Saints stayed strong, refusing to buckle under the blue wave as they turned the ball over and booted it out before the celebrations and travel plans for Cardiff began.

Leinster: 15. Hugo Keenan; 14. Tommy O'Brien, 13. Garry Ringrose, 12. Robbie Henshaw (Jordie Barrett 50), 11. James Lowe; 10. Sam Prendergast (Ross Byrne 77), 9. Jamison Gibson-Park; 1. Cian Healy (Andrew Porter , 2. Dan Sheehan (Ronan Kelleher 64), 3. Tadh Furlong (Rabah Slimani 54); 4: RG Snyman, 5. Joe McCarthy; 6. Max Deegan (Jack Conan 44), 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. Caelan Doris (c) (Ryan Baird 57).

Saints: 15. James Ramm; 14. Tommy Freeman, 13. Fraser Dingwall, 12. Rory Hutchinson, 11. Tom Litchfield (Angus Scott-Young ; 10. Fin Smith, 9. Alex Mitchell (Tom James 64); 1. Manny Iyogun (Tom West 60), 2. Curtis Langdon, 3. Trevor Davison (Elliot Millar Mills 48); 4. Temo Mayanavanua (Tom Lockett 65), 5. Alex Coles; 6. Josh Kemeny (Chunya Munga 79), 7. Henry Pollock, 8. Juarno Augustus.

Referee: Pierre Brousset