Champions Cup - Tom Lockett dotted down in the corner for Northampton Saints, with RC Toulon down to 13 men after replacement Matteo le Corvec and centre Jérémy Sinzelle was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle and deliberate knock respectively to secure a 22-19 win for the hosts.
Northampton Saints had led 10-3 at half-time, but RC Toulon full-back Melvyn Jaminet put in a star performance as RC Toulon fought back to take the lead with 15 minutes to go.
The hosts crossed twice in the first half, with wing Tom Seabrook scoring the first in the seventh minute after some excellent hands down the line.
Full-back George Furback went in for the second 20 minutes later, rendering RC Toulon fly-half Enzo Herve’s early penalty merely a footnote of the first 40.
With both tries unconverted, RC Toulon were still in the game and came out with the clear intention of putting the hosts under pressure and eventually they got over, with full-back Jaminet diving in the corner for his first ever Investec Champions Cup try.
Herve failed to convert before Furbank then picked up his second try following an excellent kick and chase from Tommy Freeman who was able to offload to the supporting full-back, but the French side’s steady momentum-building continued and with Northampton Saints fly-half Fin Smith missing yet another conversion as the visitors remained confident.
After another Herve penalty, RC Toulon finally took the lead with their second try courtesy of lock David Ribbans who powered over in the 65th minute, and whilst Herve missed the extras Jaminet added three courtesy of a drop-goal.
But the two yellow cards followed ten minutes later to set up a frantic final five minutes, which ended with Lockett’s try- the first one Smith managed to convert.
Scorers:
Northampton Saints: Tries: Tom Seabrook, George Furbank (2), Tom Lockett. Conversion: Fin Smith.
RC Toulon: Tries: Melvyn Jaminet, David Ribbans. Penalties: Enzo Herve (3).
Teams:
Northampton Saints: 15 George Furbank, 14 Tom Seabrook, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Tom Litchfield, 11 George Hendy, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Sam Graham, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Alex Moon, 4 Temo Mayanavanua, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Ethan Waller. Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Tom Lockett, 20 Juarno Augustus, 21 Tom James, 22 Charlie Savala, 23 Ollie Sleightholme.
RC Toulon: 15 Melvyn Jaminet, 14 Leicester Fainga’anuku, 13 Setariki Tuicuvu, 12 Jérémy Sinzelle, 11 Gabin Villiere, 10 Enzo Herve, 9 Ben White, 8 Selevasio Tolofua, 7 Charles Ollivon, 6 Esteban Abadie, 5 David Ribbans, 4 Matthias Halagahu, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Dany Priso. Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Jean-Baptiste Gros, 18 Emerick Setiano, 19 Adrien Warion, 20 Matteo le Corvec, 21 Jules Danglot, 22 Mathieu Smaili, 23 Jiuta Wainiqolo.
