Northampton Saints missed the chance to finish top of European Rugby Champions Cup Pool Five after suffering a 32-8 home defeat at the hands of Racing Metro this evening.
A 20-20 draw contested between Wasps and Leinster earlier today ensured that the Jimmies' place in the last eight of the competition had already been secured, but it was still all to play for in terms of securing a home tie in the next round.
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They got off to a bad start when Dylan Hartley was sent to the sin bin, and two successful kicks from Maxime Machenaud ensured that the visitors were in early control.
Stephen Myler managed to split the sticks with his 400th successful penalty for Northampton, but Juan Jose Imhoff dealt the Saints a crushing blow when he crossed over for five more points right on the brink of half time.
Things did not really improve from a Saints perspective in the second half as their French opponents raced out of the blocks to add two more tries inside the opening stages of the restart.
Imhodd found the whitewash for his second of the evening before Benjamin Lapeyre joined the party.
George North offered Northampton a glimmer of home with his seventh try in European competition this season, yet there was still a long way to go if the home side were to claim a dramatic turnaround in order to top the group.
A yellow card issued to Lapeyre following a deliberate knock-on strengthened these hopes, but Wales international Jamie Roberts was able to power over on the hour to ensure that it would be Racing who claimed a bonus-point win, as well as the added advantage of a home quarter-final.
Daniel Lewis
