ECC: Brive joy as Myler kicks Northampton Saints to victory over Bourgoin

22 May 2009

Bourgoin 3 (3) Northampton Saints 15 (9)

Stephen Myler kicked Northampton Saints to a scrappy but deserving 15-3 victory over Bourgoin in the European Challenge Cup final at the Twickenham Stoop.

It wasn't a classic match - it was never likely to be with Bourgoin's forwards-based attack - but the Saints showed more discipline in a tension-filled match that had the lure of a Heineken Cup slot for the winners.

Northampton took that honour, as well as becoming only the third side to win both European competitions - after Wasps and Bath.

The result was also welcomed in Brive, who now qualify for next season's Heineken Cup after finishing sixth in Top 14 as Bourgoin failed to grasp their chance for glory.

European Challenge Cup - Pool results and tables

Their play was largely stilted and one dimensional, but Northampton countered that by trying to move the Bourgoin pack around the pitch and ended up dominant as the second half wore on.  It was just reward for their more positive approach, with Bourgoin ending the match a player down - due to Thomas Genevois' red card - as their challenge faltered.

Saints had also dominated early possession and duly opened the scoring when Stephen Myler slotted an eighth minute penalty, a lead he subsequently doubled halfway through the opening period with a trickier kick from the right.

Bourgoin regrouped and tried their usual direct approach, but the English side stood firm in defence, repelling everything that came their way until yet another ferocious scrum forced a penalty 35m out and allowed Morgan Parra to get the French team on the board six minutes before the break.

Tension bubbled throughout, with tempers eventually flaring just before the interval when Parra had a pop at Neil Best at the breakdown, with both players picking up yellow cards for their indiscretion.

With time ticking down towards half-time Northampton won another penalty when Bourgoin failed to roll away, giving Myler - the Guinness Premiership's most accurate kicker - the opportunity to reassert their six-point lead.

There was still time for Boyet to try an opportunistic 40m drop-goal - which fell short - but in truth the Saints were good value for their 9-3 lead as both teams stalked off for the 10 minute break.

A scrappy start to the second-half underlined the nerves within both teams but Northampton eventually profited when yet another silly error by Bourgoin - this time handling in the ruck - gifted Myler an easy kick to make it 12-3 after 50 minutes.

The confident Saints fly-half was narrowly wide with a 40m drop-goal shortly after, but his overall kicking and control of the game was a key factor in the superiority of the Guinness Premiership side.

The increased lead appeared to give Northampton confidence and they went on to dominate the following period as Bourgoin's frustrations mounted.

A potential kick at goal was turned down in favour of going for the try - via a kick to the corner - with a subsequent 5m scrum being retaken three times before a penalty for not binding eventually released the pressure on Bourgoin.

At that stage it seemed merely a matter of time before the French side were breached, but Bourgoin somehow clung on as Myler continued to turn them with his out-of-hand kicking. A second attempted drop-goal drifted wide on 67 minutes but Myler made amends with his fifth successful penalty sixty seconds later - for more handling in the ruck - as he lifted Saints 15-3 ahead.

A huge Courtney Lawes hit on Parra six minutes from time epitomised the English side's increasing dominance, and the French scrum-half was stretchered off in his final game for Bourgoin before moving to Clermont Auvergne this summer. His departure - with what looked like a shoulder injury - will alarm national coach Marc Lièvremont, who this week named Biarritz's Dimitri Yachvili as a standby for France's summer tour to New Zealand and Australia.

Replacement Thomas Genevois then compounded Bourgoin's misery as he thumped Courtney Lawes to earn a straight red as the French side descended into petulance.

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