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Investec Champions Cup: Leinster 20-17 Northampton – Leinster beat Saints to make Euro final with Lowe treble
Leinster were on the front foot from the restart with the ball worked patiently across for Lowe to score once again in the 43rd minute.
Northampton responded with their most consistent spell of possession but were undone by timely interventions, first from Joe McCarthy and then from Andrew Porter.
This fixture has already featured one famous comeback, with Leinster having come from 22-6 behind to win the 2011 final 33-22, and hopes of a similar turnaround were sparked by Northampton forcing a pair of scores late on.
In the 58th minute, when Leinster lost a line-out in their own half, Hendy took advantage of the broken play to kick ahead and gather to give his side a lifeline.
Still 10 points ahead, Leinster looked to respond quickly only for Byrne’s penalty to drift wide. Croke Park’s partisan crowd incongruously cheered as the ball sailed off line, greeting the sight of Ireland head coach Andy Farrell on the big screens.
Northampton would bring the game within a score when Tom Seabrook went over in the 74th minute, doing so after the Saints had fought back to win a scrum penalty.
Smith’s conversion cut Leinster’s lead to just three and the Saints threated one of the great comebacks in the final minutes only for replacement back-rower Jack Conan’s turnover with 40 seconds remaining to bring one last Croke Park roar.
Still top of the Premiership, Northampton will take plenty from their final quarter back into domestic action.
Leinster, meanwhile, will prepare for their third Champions Cup final in a row.
Leinster: Frawley; Larmour, Henshaw, Osborne, Lowe; R Byrne, Gibson-Park; Porter, Sheehan, Furlong; Molony, McCarthy; Baird, Van der Flier, Doris (capt).
Replacements: Kelleher, Healy, Ala’alatoa, Jenkins, Conan, McGrath, H Byrne, O’Brien.
Northampton: Furbank; Ramm, Freeman, Dingwall, Hendy; Smith, Mitchell; Waller, Langdon, Davison; Moon, Coles; Lawes (capt), Graham, Augustus.
Replacements: Matavesi, Iyogun, Millar-Mills, Mayanavanua, Scott-Young, James, Litchfield, Seabrook.
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (Fra)
West Ham are set to appoint Julen Lopetegui as their new manager later this week.
The former Spain and Real Madrid coach was identified as the Hammers’ first choice to replace outgoing boss David Moyes and, earlier this month, agreed to take up the role.
Now the Premier League season is over, Lopetegui’s contract will be signed, allowing him to take over for the start of pre-season, which includes a two-week trip to the United States for matches against Crystal Palace and Wolves.
Ironically, Lopetegui spent the second half of the 2022-23 season with Wolves, guiding the club to safety. However, he left on the eve of the new campaign after issues over transfer funding failed to get resolved.
Moyes revealed after Sunday’s 3-1 defeat at Manchester City that he has already received job offers but is likely to spend some time with his family after getting only three weeks off last summer.
The Scot has agreed media commitments with BBC Sport and Talksport at this summer’s European Championships.
Former Spain and Real Madrid coach Lopetegui won the Europa League with Sevilla in 2020 before moving to Wolves two years later.
Nelly Korda secured her sixth victory in seven tournaments by winning the Mizuho Americas Open on Sunday.
The 25-year-old’s level-par 71 saw her win on 14 under, one shot clear of Australian Hannah Green at the Liberty National Golf Course in Jersey City.
Korda started the final day with a two-shot lead but had three bogeys and one birdie on the front nine to be level with Green at the halfway point.
After matching each other down the stretch it was the Australian who blinked first, missing a par putt on the 18th that would have forced a play-off.
The victory means American Korda bounced back at the first opportunity after her winning streak of five came to an end at last week’s Cognizant Founders Cup.
The world number one’s run had included last month’s Chevron Championship, the first major of the season.
It was Korda’s 14th LPGA Tour victory as she became the first American to win six or more times in a season since Beth Daniel won seven times in 1990. American legend Mickey Wright holds the record with 13 victories in 1963.
Korda will next turn her attention to the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club, which begins on 30 May.
Watch Match of the Day’s tribute to Ian Wright as the Arsenal legend steps down as a pundit, 27 years after his first studio appearance on the show.
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