Mad last minute of Northampton v Leinster dissected

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04-05-2025

With the result of Northampton's eventual victory over Leinster still in the balance, the Saints had to cling on during one of the most manic finishes to a match in the history of the Champions Cup.
The reigning Premiership champions led by three points with just over a minute remaining as Leinster launched a final salvo on the Northampton line. The Saints, down to 14 players owing to a yellow card to flanker Josh Kemeny, were clinging on in the face of a barrage from a plethora of Irish internationals.
The chance
As the clock ticked, wing James Lowe sent his Ireland team-mate Josh van der Flier through a gap down the left flank. The flanker managed to get on the outside of Saints' Tom James before barrelling into Tommy Freeman. The England wing did enough – just – to halt Van der Flier just short of the line, but Leinster had all the momentum.
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The Northampton cavalry arrived, in the form of Alex Coles, Juarno Augustus and Angus Scott-Young. With Van der Flier on the floor, the ball squirted out to the left side of the tackle area, towards the touchline, and with scrum-half James retreating, Ross Byrne thought he had scored the winner in the corner as the ball trickled over the whitewash via the base of the corner flag.
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The decision
It was chaos.
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Referee Pierre Brousset, at the end of one of the most seismic matches this competition had ever seen, would have been within his rights to have looked completely exasperated.
Brousset called 'time off' and went upstairs to his television match official. The on-field decision – which is incredibly important – was 'no try', but both Brousset and the TMO were interested in the actions of Coles as the ball squirted from the ruck.
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Swiftly, the duo had decided that Coles's actions were illegal. He was an assist tackler and he played the ball on the floor. That part, in the maelstrom, was straightforward.
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Next, the duo had to judge whether Byrne had actually managed to score a legal try – in essence, whether the ball had hit the touchline – or if Van der Flier had also knocked on of his own accord.
Brousset and his TMO came to the conclusion that there was a hint of a knock-on from both Van der Flier and Byrne before the latter touched the ball down over the line. The ball also hits the base of the corner flag which, in itself, is not in touch. However, Brousset gave his on-field call as 'no try' and, therefore, the evidence to overturn that decision had to be conclusive. Although there was a chance that Byrne had scored, the evidence certainly was not incontrovertible. Had Brousset opted for an on-field 'try' call to start with, Byrne's score had more chance of being awarded.
There was also the question of whether Byrne had ever been on his feet before grounding the ball, which the officials did not get to – and they did not really have to.
Jack Conan questioned Brousset as to why it was not a penalty try and the Frenchman explained that it was because Van der Flier had been stopped short of the line. Coles, subsequently, was sent to the sin-bin.
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Leinster, still three points behind, tapped a penalty five metres out – the same manner in which they had scored two earlier tries – but Augustus stripped Conan in the carry. Northampton ran down the final 30 seconds before Fin Smith booted the ball out for a famous victory.
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