“Pick ‘em all.”
It was not so much a suggestion as a demand from Fraser Dingwall as the Northampton skipper listened to a question about British and Irish Lions selection; and specifically how Andy Farrell might have evaluated a stunning Saints victory.
Dingwall is a fine leader who speaks with assured eloquence and cares deeply about his club. Having regained his England place at the end of the Six Nations, he was superb in midfield as Northampton upset Leinster. Several Saints reinforced their Lions credentials.
Tommy Freeman is now a shoo-in among the outside backs. Alex Mitchell must surely be one of the scrum-halves. Henry Pollock’s propensity for game-changing brilliance might be enough to force the hand of Farrell. Few would begrudge Curtis Langdon or Dingwall himself a surprise call-up.
Fin Smith and Fraser Dingwall speak with @ryanwilson89 after helping @SaintsRugby to a big victory against Leinster 😇
“Before the game, a lot of people wrote us off, but we have full belief within our circle of what we’re capable of.” 🗣️#InvestecChampionsCuppic.twitter.com/fUFYyXwA1b
— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) May 3, 2025
Fly-half will be a contentious position when the Lions squad is announced on Thursday afternoon. Yet Fin Smith must be included. He rubber-stamped his ticket to Australia with a performance of all-round class, conducting a win that will be honoured for generations.
Standing next to Dingwall afterwards, he told of how Northampton had been galvanised by predictions of a Leinster triumph by 35 or even 40 points. During the match itself, the 22-year-old exuded intuition and toughness. He overshadowed Sam Prendergast with a display that not only stated his case to tour with the Lions, but also to wear 10 against the Wallabies.
While competition will be fierce, with Finn Russell, George Ford and others also in contention, Smith consolidated an impressive 2025 on a special evening for Saints. In a game that crackled with intensity as momentum swung back and forth, as it tends to in Test matches, he guided Northampton over the line.
Scanning and playing to space
Smith’s work for the first Saints try, finished by Freeman, is testament to admirable stamina and composure in broken-field situations. The sequence begins with a Leinster put-in as the clock shows 5.41:
One minute and 19 seconds later, Prendergast clears downfield. Note the respective positions of Joe McCarthy, Josh van der Flier and Cian Healy:
By the time the ball gets to James Ramm, the Saints full-back, Smith has cycled into the backfield. His initial thought seems to be for Ramm to kick the ball back, but the Leinster chase is disconnected.
There is a huge gap between the 37-year-old Healy and Van der Flier. McCarthy is still some way behind his teammates:
Watch how Smith scans and clocks this opportunity before arcing towards the left shoulder of Ramm to take a short pass and slice through the Leinster line. It may have been a preordained tactic to find Healy on kick-returns. Either way, the hosts’ line is broken:
In open field, having brushed off McCarthy, he stays calm and threads a grubber between Hugo Keenan and James Lowe into space for Freeman:
Smith spent the week promising that Northampton would be ambitious and he backed up his words. This short goal-line drop-out was ballsy, and Tom Litchfield climbs to retain possession:
Rather than hack the ball downfield, Mitchell and Smith throw long passes across their own 22 to probe for space:
Only when Pollock is shackled do they go to the boot.
At the end of the first quarter, on the back of a surging run from Freeman, Smith struck a beautiful kick that caused Tommy O’Brien to concede a Northampton line-out. It is effectively a 50:22, which blends vision with slick execution:
The best fly-halves are conduits for their coaches, and Smith was critical to how Northampton implemented the plans of Sam Vesty, Phil Dowson and the Saints analysts.
Beating the blitz
Saints’ set-piece work, for which the outstanding Alex Coles deserves huge credit, presented opportunities to challenge Leinster. From their first couple of strikes, Northampton attempted to outflank Garry Ringrose.
However, Juarno Augustus fumbled a tip-on from Dingwall and then Ringrose bolted up to clatter Dingwall himself. Saints stayed patient.
Five minutes before half-time, Northampton get another line-out. They have just been restored to 15 players. Langdon returns from the sin-bin to replace Henry Walker, with Litchfield, who had been sacrificed for Saints to keep a hooker, also replenishing the backline. This is important.
Rory Hutchinson steps up at first receiver as part of a shape we see so often. Smith is drifting laterally out the back as he does so well. The roles of Ringrose and the Leinster back three are highlighted here as well:
A short pass sends Dingwall into traffic and Saints earn clean ball:
They play out the back of a three-man pod, but Ringrose and Lowe press to shut off the space. Smith, who has taken a pull-back from Josh Kemeny, does not risk another pass. Instead, he spins back against the grain towards his forwards:
Mitchell zig-zags, feeding Langdon:
And the next part is about Northampton winning the race to reorganise. The shape is not precise, but you can see its foundations. Pollock is calling for the ball, with Coles on his outside. Behind that is Smith, sensing a chance to pick off Leinster, with Ramm and the roaming Litchfield moving into deeper positions. Freeman is hugging the touchline.
From the movement of Prendergast and Tommy O’Brien, who are filling in on the near side, you can see that Leinster are wary of Saints moving in that direction. Northampton’s zig-zagging, referenced by Leo Cullen in his post-match interview, has effectively split the backfield defence and narrowed the blitz:
From here, Northampton’s synergy is exceptional. Pollock fixes Ringrose and Lowe bites on the run of Coles, which means he cannot readjust quickly enough to reach Smith. Ramm hits the line and draws Keenan to send Litchfield clear:
Freeman gets a free run thanks to four phases of shrewd teamwork that manipulate Leinster.
Holding nerve and mucking in
We have seen several times this season that Smith has learned to push through rocky periods within games: the last-gasp defeat of Bath in the Premiership and his first Test start against France are great examples.
Missing a couple of first-half conversions might have knocked other players. This 50-metre penalty in the second period showed Smith’s resilience:
For Ramm’s try, Northampton’s fifth, he swings behind a four-man pod again. Watch Litchfield holding width:
Though the attempted grubber to Litchfield is blocked, Kemeny is able to pick up the rebound…
…and ends up marching deep into the Leinster 22. Smith is in support, burrowing into the ruck…
…and Dingwall takes over as the key playmaker, slipping behind a three-man pod to receive a pull-back from Coles and looping the ball to Ramm:
Smith’s steel is not in doubt. This one-on-one tackle on Jordie Barrett is typical of his defensive solidity:
After the very last Saints turnover, he keeps his composure amid the chaos. Watch how he tells Ramm to join the forwards for the very last pick-and-go series:
Smith drops to the pocket, checking the big screen as he goes, and calls for the ball once the clock strikes 80:
Saints overturned what was in effect a Test team away from home, which is precisely the mission statement that the Lions take on every four years. Smith, a smart facilitator with subtlety to his game, was at the heart of a monumental achievement. Sir Ian McGeechan has had him marked out as a Lion since starring in an away win over Munster in January 2024.
There is plenty of water to pass under the bridge between now and July 19, when Suncorp Stadium stages the series opener. Form over the warm-up matches on Australian soil will be key, clearly.
But by steering Saints to the Champions Cup decider, Smith has staked the strongest claim yet.
Match images from Premier Sports
“Pick ‘em all.”
It was not so much a suggestion as a demand from Fraser Dingwall as the Northampton skipper listened to a question about British and Irish Lions selection; and specifically how Andy Farrell might have evaluated a stunning Saints victory.
Dingwall is a fine leader who speaks with assured eloquence and cares deeply about his club. Having regained his England place at the end of the Six Nations, he was superb in midfield as Northampton upset Leinster. Several Saints reinforced their Lions credentials.
Tommy Freeman is now a shoo-in among the outside backs. Alex Mitchell must surely be one of the scrum-halves. Henry Pollock’s propensity for game-changing brilliance might be enough to force the hand of Farrell. Few would begrudge Curtis Langdon or Dingwall himself a surprise call-up.
Fin Smith and Fraser Dingwall speak with @ryanwilson89 after helping @SaintsRugby to a big victory against Leinster 😇
“Before the game, a lot of people wrote us off, but we have full belief within our circle of what we’re capable of.” 🗣️#InvestecChampionsCuppic.twitter.com/fUFYyXwA1b
— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) May 3, 2025
Fly-half will be a contentious position when the Lions squad is announced on Thursday afternoon. Yet Fin Smith must be included. He rubber-stamped his ticket to Australia with a performance of all-round class, conducting a win that will be honoured for generations.
Standing next to Dingwall afterwards, he told of how Northampton had been galvanised by predictions of a Leinster triumph by 35 or even 40 points. During the match itself, the 22-year-old exuded intuition and toughness. He overshadowed Sam Prendergast with a display that not only stated his case to tour with the Lions, but also to wear 10 against the Wallabies.
While competition will be fierce, with Finn Russell, George Ford and others also in contention, Smith consolidated an impressive 2025 on a special evening for Saints. In a game that crackled with intensity as momentum swung back and forth, as it tends to in Test matches, he guided Northampton over the line.
Scanning and playing to space
Smith’s work for the first Saints try, finished by Freeman, is testament to admirable stamina and composure in broken-field situations. The sequence begins with a Leinster put-in as the clock shows 5.41:
One minute and 19 seconds later, Prendergast clears downfield. Note the respective positions of Joe McCarthy, Josh van der Flier and Cian Healy:
By the time the ball gets to James Ramm, the Saints full-back, Smith has cycled into the backfield. His initial thought seems to be for Ramm to kick the ball back, but the Leinster chase is disconnected.
There is a huge gap between the 37-year-old Healy and Van der Flier. McCarthy is still some way behind his teammates:
Watch how Smith scans and clocks this opportunity before arcing towards the left shoulder of Ramm to take a short pass and slice through the Leinster line. It may have been a preordained tactic to find Healy on kick-returns. Either way, the hosts’ line is broken:
In open field, having brushed off McCarthy, he stays calm and threads a grubber between Hugo Keenan and James Lowe into space for Freeman:
Smith spent the week promising that Northampton would be ambitious and he backed up his words. This short goal-line drop-out was ballsy, and Tom Litchfield climbs to retain possession:
Rather than hack the ball downfield, Mitchell and Smith throw long passes across their own 22 to probe for space:
Only when Pollock is shackled do they go to the boot.
At the end of the first quarter, on the back of a surging run from Freeman, Smith struck a beautiful kick that caused Tommy O’Brien to concede a Northampton line-out. It is effectively a 50:22, which blends vision with slick execution:
The best fly-halves are conduits for their coaches, and Smith was critical to how Northampton implemented the plans of Sam Vesty, Phil Dowson and the Saints analysts.
Beating the blitz
Saints’ set-piece work, for which the outstanding Alex Coles deserves huge credit, presented opportunities to challenge Leinster. From their first couple of strikes, Northampton attempted to outflank Garry Ringrose.
However, Juarno Augustus fumbled a tip-on from Dingwall and then Ringrose bolted up to clatter Dingwall himself. Saints stayed patient.
Five minutes before half-time, Northampton get another line-out. They have just been restored to 15 players. Langdon returns from the sin-bin to replace Henry Walker, with Litchfield, who had been sacrificed for Saints to keep a hooker, also replenishing the backline. This is important.
Rory Hutchinson steps up at first receiver as part of a shape we see so often. Smith is drifting laterally out the back as he does so well. The roles of Ringrose and the Leinster back three are highlighted here as well:
A short pass sends Dingwall into traffic and Saints earn clean ball:
They play out the back of a three-man pod, but Ringrose and Lowe press to shut off the space. Smith, who has taken a pull-back from Josh Kemeny, does not risk another pass. Instead, he spins back against the grain towards his forwards:
Mitchell zig-zags, feeding Langdon:
And the next part is about Northampton winning the race to reorganise. The shape is not precise, but you can see its foundations. Pollock is calling for the ball, with Coles on his outside. Behind that is Smith, sensing a chance to pick off Leinster, with Ramm and the roaming Litchfield moving into deeper positions. Freeman is hugging the touchline.
From the movement of Prendergast and Tommy O’Brien, who are filling in on the near side, you can see that Leinster are wary of Saints moving in that direction. Northampton’s zig-zagging, referenced by Leo Cullen in his post-match interview, has effectively split the backfield defence and narrowed the blitz:
From here, Northampton’s synergy is exceptional. Pollock fixes Ringrose and Lowe bites on the run of Coles, which means he cannot readjust quickly enough to reach Smith. Ramm hits the line and draws Keenan to send Litchfield clear:
Freeman gets a free run thanks to four phases of shrewd teamwork that manipulate Leinster.
Holding nerve and mucking in
We have seen several times this season that Smith has learned to push through rocky periods within games: the last-gasp defeat of Bath in the Premiership and his first Test start against France are great examples.
Missing a couple of first-half conversions might have knocked other players. This 50-metre penalty in the second period showed Smith’s resilience:
For Ramm’s try, Northampton’s fifth, he swings behind a four-man pod again. Watch Litchfield holding width:
Though the attempted grubber to Litchfield is blocked, Kemeny is able to pick up the rebound…
…and ends up marching deep into the Leinster 22. Smith is in support, burrowing into the ruck…
…and Dingwall takes over as the key playmaker, slipping behind a three-man pod to receive a pull-back from Coles and looping the ball to Ramm:
Smith’s steel is not in doubt. This one-on-one tackle on Jordie Barrett is typical of his defensive solidity:
After the very last Saints turnover, he keeps his composure amid the chaos. Watch how he tells Ramm to join the forwards for the very last pick-and-go series:
Smith drops to the pocket, checking the big screen as he goes, and calls for the ball once the clock strikes 80:
Saints overturned what was in effect a Test team away from home, which is precisely the mission statement that the Lions take on every four years. Smith, a smart facilitator with subtlety to his game, was at the heart of a monumental achievement. Sir Ian McGeechan has had him marked out as a Lion since starring in an away win over Munster in January 2024.
There is plenty of water to pass under the bridge between now and July 19, when Suncorp Stadium stages the series opener. Form over the warm-up matches on Australian soil will be key, clearly.
But by steering Saints to the Champions Cup decider, Smith has staked the strongest claim yet.
Match images from Premier Sports
