LEINSTER suffered more European heartache as they lost a 10-try thriller at the Aviva Stadium.
Their bid to reach a fourth consecutive Champions Cup final fell short as Northampton gained revenge for their three-point defeat at Croke Park last year by winning by the same margin.
A dozen points down at the break and 10 behind with nine minutes to go, Leo Cullen’s side should have nicked it at the death but turned the ball over and Saints held on.
Sam Vesty’s side – who played for more than a quarter of the game at a numerical disadvantage – were outstanding, finding gaps in Leinster’s defence which other sides had failed to find, with Tommy Freeman scoring a hat-trick.
They drew first blood in the eighth minute.
James Ramm offloaded when tackled by Max Deegan to Fin Smith who sped past Josh van der Flier and then left Cian Healy, Sam Prendergast and RG Snyman flat-footed.
He sent a grubber through for Freeman to chase. James Lowe could not catch him, Jamison Gibson-Park could but not keep him out with Smith converting.
There was no need to panic, surely, and by the 18th minute, Leinster had snook into the lead.
Prendergast kicked a penalty after Pollock shouldered van der Flier in the back.
And, after a quick tap penalty by Gibson-Park, the out-half spun the ball out to the corner for Tommy O’Brien to touch down, although he could not add the extras.
The assumption was that Leinster had had their little scare and normal service would soon be restored but, by half-time, they found themselves 12 points behind having conceded three further tries, one when the visitors were down to 14 men.
Smith had nudged Saints back in front with a penalty for offside but, in the 26th minute, the hosts crossed over for the second time.
Prendergast was again heavily involved, passing to Deegan. He was brought to ground but looped the ball up in the air when support arrived with van der Flier almost fighting off Prendergast to catch it and power over.
This time, the 22-year-old converted and, with hooker Curtis Langdon sin-binned for persistent infringements, it was teed up for Leo Cullen’s men to take the game by the scruff of the neck.
Instead, a defence which had been so miserly in earlier knockout games against Harlequins and Glasgow Warriors stumbled upon a generous streak, offering up space here, there and everywhere with the English outfit exploiting it to the full.
From a ruck, Pollock powered past Andrew Porter – who had been brought on to replace Cian Healy with less than a quarter of the game gone – and Snyman.
Prendergast did best to retrieve the situation but fell short with Smith bisecting the posts to put his side back in front.
Being two points down was not a disastrous situation but it quickly became one when their line was breached twice in as many minutes by Freeman as he completed his hat-trick.
First, Leinster ran out of players as Northampton shifted the ball at pace from left to right with Freeman running over unopposed.
Then, on the opposite side, Juarno Augustus claimed a loose ball from an aerial contest and held onto it long enough until Freeman appeared on the scene to run in once more.
The only saving grace for the province was that Smith did not turn five points into seven on either occasion, hitting the upright with his first effort.
Two converted tries would be enough to win the game which they were more than capable of producing but the first half defensive display did not exactly convince that they might go unanswered.
An early Prendergast fumble did not exactly settle nerves but a curling 50:22 from James Lowe gave something for fans to rally behind.
And, eventually, it led to Leinster’s third try, scored by Doris when he barged his way through from close range with Prendergast converting.
Anything Lowe could do, Doris could manage too, gaining similar ground with a kick to touch after stripping Temo Mayanavanua of the ball.
At that stage, Jordie Barrett came on, to add to the introduction of Jack Conan moments earlier, to underline to Northampton that they still had their work cut out to win.
One of Conan’s first acts was to claim a lineout whilst Barrett forced a turnover, as did Ryan Baird shortly after he was brought on.
From that, Leinster kicked to the corner, won the lineout and mauled their way to a fourth try, scored by van der Flier.
Prendergast could not add the two points and Leinster promptly undid their good work as they missed tackles to allow Ramm go over in the corner with Smith’s conversion ensuring their lead was back in double figures.
The odds tilted in Leinster’s favour in the 68th minute when Josh Kemeny was yellow-carded when he caught Rabah Slimani with his shoulder.
Within a few minutes, James Lowe had scored a converted try to narrow the gap to only three points.
With 60 seconds left on the clock, Ross Byrne claimed he had nicked it when he touched down in the corner but it was ruled out for a knock-on by van der Flier.
Leinster still had one last chance as they were given the compensation of a penalty with a third yellow card, for Alex Coles for not releasing, but they could not capitalise, turning the ball over.
LEINSTER: 34
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS: 37
LEINSTER: Tries: O’Brien, van der Flier 2, Doris, Lowe; Conversion: Prendergast 3; Penalty: Prendergast
NORTHAMPTON: Try: Freeman 3, Pollock, Ramm; Conversion: Smith 3; Penalty: Smith 2
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