Let the Saints be canonised again. A decade on from their last Premiership triumph, Northampton are champions of England once more, Courtney Lawes hoisting the trophy aloft to head to France with one last special Twickenham memory to savour. Lawes bids adieu after 17 years of sterling service that have seen him evolve from a lithe lock into the most complete blindside flanker in the world.
This was a farewell said in fitting fashion to a legend of club and country. And how Northampton needed his calm and character to survive a final that eddied and edged this way and that. The contest may not have hit the heights some expected, but any fears that the encounter would be deadened by Beno Obano ’s 20 th minute dismissal were proved misplaced.
How Bath, down to 14 men for an hour, battled, their brains and bravery unquestioned, even if they came ultimately in defeat. Come the last, George Hendy was Northampton’s unlikely hero, conjuring a try for the ages before ripping the ball free from Bath hands in the corner to seal a hard-fought victory that Saints will celebrate long into the summer. This may not have been a performance that they will remember fondly, but there can be no denying that they merit this title having led the way for so much of the season and ended a Saracens era in their semi-final.
The nerves of a rare Twickenham trip seemed to play on the minds of two sides recently untested on this stage. Even Finn Russell , who has patrolled this place like a palace of .
