NORTHAMPTON ARE STILL down to 13 players when the second-half trouble starts for Munster.

Within 90 seconds of the restart, Munster wing Calvin Nash is stripped of the ball by impressive 21-year-old Saints out-half Fin Smith, sparking an attack that ends with the first penalty of the half.

Peter O’Mahony and Tadhg Beirne make a tackle before the latter counter-rucks but O’Mahony is pinged for not rolling away from the ball.

Smith steps up and slots the 41-metre penalty on a night when he was superb off the tee.

Munster respond well. First, two Jack Crowley cross-field kicks nearly create a try-scoring chance but the second is slightly too short for Nash to sprint onto and the Saints survive.

Graham Rowntree’s men attack aggressively off the next lineout, though, with Brian Gleeson and John Hodnett making impactful carries into the 22. A couple of penalty wins follow, then Gavin Coombes barges over for a converted try.

20-10 to the good with half an hour to go against 14 men, it seems like a fine position for Munster to be in.

Yet Rowntree’s men fail to close the game out. The next time they attack, replacement wing Seán O’Brien goes off his feet at an attacking breakdown.

Rather than steadying themselves after that penalty concession, Munster concede another on first phase of the resulting lineout attack from Northampton.

This time, Niall Scannell jackals for a turnover but referee Tual Trainini isn’t satisfied that there’s a clear release.

Smith makes it 20-13 with 24 minutes to go.

With Northampton using the strong wind behind them to kick long, Munster soon find themselves in rather calamitous trouble.

They look to play out of a tricky spot but then O’Mahony’s attempted clearance smashes into Coombes.

Though centre Alex Nankivell wins a strip turnover from the resulting Northampton scrum attack and kicks out to the halfway line, the Saints regroup and make inroads back into Munster’s half.

Smith steps up again, this time smashing over a long-range drop goal even without penalty advantage in play.

It means the Saints are suddenly back to within four points at 20-16 and Munster need another response.

Scrum-half Craig Casey makes a strong defensive play in the 63rd minute, snapping over the breakdown to win a turnover penalty.

That means it’s decision time. After Saints scrum-half Alex Mitchell kicks the ball away in frustration, Munster out-half Crowley runs over to one of the ball boys to get a ball back on the pitch as quickly as possible, suggesting he senses a chance to go into the corner and try to kill the game, as well as grabbing the bonus-point try.

But a discussion follows and Munster opt to go for the posts.

“We’d a quick conversation about it,” says captain Beirne of this call. “The three put us seven ahead and Crowley was confident about putting it over, so we wanted to take the points to give us a bit more breathing space.

“It felt like we could go up the pitch again, it felt like we were very much in control there. Things started to go against us after that moment I think, there were a few turning points in the game.”

With Munster 23-16 to the good, Northampton initially seem to wobble in the tough conditions as they lose a lineout and then knock the ball on in midfield.

Unfortunately for Munster, that provides Saints with a chance to power up at the scrum.

Replacement tighthead John Ryan is the man penalised by Tranini for his “angle under pressure” and with that wind behind him, Smith fires over another long-range kick to bring his side back to 23-19 with 13 minutes left in the game.

An exchange of kicks follows the restart but then a purposeful counter-attack from the Saints back three gives Smith the platform to roll this excellent kick in behind Munster.

That leaves Munster in another tough spot and their attempt to exit is unsuccessful.

Hodnett breaks from a maul but replacement hooker Eoghan Clarke is unable to clear the arriving Courtney Lawes away, with the Saints flanker earning a turnover penalty.

Saints sense their game-winning opportunity as they kick the penalty into the right corner.

Initially, Munster appear to have stopped the maul but as Lawes goes to ground at the left edge of the Saints maul, sub back row Sam Graham breaks away to cross untouched.

“That maul was disappointing to concede,” says Rowntree.

“We seemed to evacuate at the wrong time and they just broke away and scored and that brought them back in.”

Smith converts and with eight minutes left, the English side lead 26-23.

There’s still time but Munster are unable to find a rescuing score. Lawes continues his assault by combining with Burger Odendaal for a choke tackle turnover on Nankivell.

There’s an early “maul” call from Tranini before Nankivell fights down towards the ground.

Rubbing salt in the wound, Smith comes up with another classy kick in the next passage, turning back against the grain to find backfield space.

And that essentially proves to be that.

With the rain teeming down and the wind into their faces, Munster never have possession in the Saints half again.

There’s even time for Smith to try another long-distance penalty after a Munster infringement at the maul and though his kick is short, it eats another 90 seconds off the clock and keeps Munster pinned deep in their half.

Crowley tries to chip out from near his own line, Northampton gather, and fittingly, it’s Smith who launches the ball into touch to spark the Saints’ celebrations.