ALEX DRIVES SAINTS HOME

ALEX MITCHELL came off the bench to inspire Northampton to their first Champions Cup quarter-final for four years after being told to stay off the golf course.

- Adam Hathaway

The scrum-half injured his wrist in England’s final Six Nations match against France last month and missed Premiership games against Bristol and Saracens.

He came on after 52 minutes against Munster with the scores at 14-14 but injected pace as two tries from replacement George Hendy won the game.

Saints will face the South African side the Bulls back at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday night, with Mitchell odds-on to start now he has some minutes in his legs.

Phil Dowson, the Northampton director of rugby, said: He suffered the injury in France and we gave him that time off to get it settled, told him not to play any golf, and it is pretty stable.