Hartley : It means everything to win it

Aviva Premiership winning hooker Dylan Hartley says that he was a proud and relieved man after Northampton Saints won the Premiership title.

Northampton Saints needed a TMO decided try by Alex Waller in extra time of extra time to beat Saracens 20-24 at Twickenham.

The Premiership final ended with the scores at 14 all after 80 minutes of regular time and went into 20 minutes of extra time.

Two minutes before full time Northampton were trailing 20-17 and only needed a drop goal or penalty to level the scores as they would have won the match on most tries scored.

Northampton worked the ball to the tryline from about 30m out and although they could have won with a drop goal they continued to push forward for the try.

As the clock ticked past the 20 minute mark for the end of extra time Northampton drove to the line before Alex Waller ducked under a mass of bodies to score on the line.

Both teams were forced to wait while the TMO and referee reviewed footage to determine whether a try had been scored.

“I haven’t slept all week and now a finish like that, I don’t think I’ve got any hairs or fingernails left,” Northampton captain Dylan Hartley told BBC radio.

“It means everything to win it. We were so close last year.”

“I’m proud to do it, not just for the town, but for all these special people here.”

“I’m so proud of the squad.”

Northampton reached the final last season but lost to Leicester Tigers and Hartley was sent off.