Richard Haughton celebrated his late call-up with two tries as Saracens on Sunday ended their three-match losing run.
Haughton took the man-of-the-match award but made the starting line-up for the Zurich Premiership win at home to Northampton only because original
right-wing choice Paul Bailey was stuck in traffic on the M25.
He took his unexpected opportunity with the opening try in the 10th minute and
then weaved his way through the Northampton defence in the 73rd to strike the
killer blow.
Bailey finally made it to Vicarage Road in time to replace injured full-back
Dan Scarbrough just before half-time - but Haughton served notice that he
intends to reclaim his number 14 shirt on a regular basis.
He scored the first try, going over in the right-hand corner to finish off a
fine move set up by centre Thomas Castaignede and fly-half Mark Bartholomeusz -
and his second touchdown was an even better effort.
In between, prop Ben Broster forced his way over from close range following a
43rd-minute line-out.
Castaignede added a penalty and converted Haughton's second try before
left-wing Ben Johnston had the final say with a drop goal deep into injury
time.
Remarkably, Northampton could not manage a try despite having a big pull in
possession and territorial advantage.
They were twice denied by the fourth official, who studied video replays
before ruling that forwards Matt Lord and Andrew Blowers had failed to ground
the ball after driving in from close range.
With both sides determined to turn the tide of defeat, there was an air of
anxiety which led to errors - frequently interrupting the flow of play as
Northampton plunged to their fourth successive league defeat.
Even the introduction of out-of-favour England World Cup-winning left-wing Ben
Cohen from the bench at half-time failed to find a way through.
Cohen had little chance to show his finishing power.
He was totally unmarked when the Saints squandered a four-on-one attacking
opportunity as England hooker Steve Thompson hung on to the ball too long before
throwing out a high pass to fly-half Shane Drahm, who promptly dropped the
ball.
Then when Saints again had the numerical advantage Cohen tried to go it alone
and was ushered into touch.
Northampton were left with just two penalties each from Drahm and full-back
Bruce Reihana to show for their efforts - and after winning their opening two
matches, they are drifting towards the relegation zone.
Teams:
Saracens: Scarbrough, Haughton, Castaignede, Harris, Johnston,
Bartholomeusz, Bracken, Yates, Cairns, Broster, Chesney,
Raiwalui, Randell, Seymour, Vyvyan.
Replacements: Bailey for Scarbrough (36),
Sorrell for Harris (49), Raulini for Bracken (56),
Lloyd for Yates (56), Ibanez for Cairns (60),
Skirving for Chesney (78).
Not Used: B. Russell.
Tries: Haughton 2, Broster.
Cons: Castaignede.
Pens: Castaignede.
Drop Goals: Johnston.
Northampton: Reihana, Human, Tucker, Stcherbina, Clarke, Drahm,
Robinson, Smith, Thompson, Kempson, Boome, Lord, Fox, Krige,
Blowers.
Replacements: Cohen for Human (40), Rudd for Tucker (73),
Browne for Lord (58), Seely for Krige (78).
Not Used: Richmond, Morris, Howard.
Pens: Drahm 2, Reihana 2.
Att: 7,712
Ref: Roy Maybank (Kent).
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