Jorgensen shatters Biarritz to pose qualification riddle

Northampton 17 Biarritz 14

Pythagoras would have worked it out in a flash, but he has not been around for two-and-a-half-thousand years. Stephen Hawking? He might conceivably fathom it, but rugby holds little interest for him. One of the great mathematical mysteries of the age – the extraordinarily complex calculation involving Northampton, Biarritz and Ulster, two of whom will end up as corpses in the Heineken Cup's group of death – must therefore be solved in time-honoured fashion, with the aid of a rule book and a logarithm table. And it will happen in Belfast on Friday night.

There would have been less hassle for all of us had Peter Jorgensen's 77th-minute try at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday, a try that broke the hearts of the reigning French champions after a defensive effort remarkable for its discipline and esprit de corps, not been awarded – as might easily have happened.

There was nothing wrong with the Australian centre's close-range finish, a short-arm stretch over the Biarritz line after some cucumber-cool sleight of hand from Matthew Dawson. But the visitors felt they should have won the put-in at an important scrum a couple of minutes earlier. Had that decision gone their way, they would have cleared their lines and nailed down a famous win.

As it is, the possibilities are as confusing as they are endless. If Northampton avoid defeat against Ulster at Ravenhill on Friday, they will win the pool. If they lose but score a try while conceding less than four, they will still end up at the top of the pile. Four or more would be a problem. If they cop a real hiding, the Irishmen would almost certainly progress as of right. There again, an Ulster victory by 23 points or more, but incorporating less than three tries, would send Biarritz through as group victors. They might even get through as a pool runners-up if they put a hatful of tries past Cardiff.

And if two Aquarians and a Gemini meet at the bottom of a ruck while Mars is in the ascendant, the competition will have to be replayed under the jurisdiction of Russell Grant.

This much is for sure: the stars were not aligned to Basque advantage at the weekend. Patrice Lagisquet, the fine Tricolore wing who now coaches Biarritz, is a civilised man, and he belly-ached in a civilised way by suggesting, ever so mildly, that in the professional era, French sides should be treated like sides from the English-speaking world.

"I played in the 1980s, when we had people sent off for doing the things our opponents were doing without penalty," he said. "This should not be happening now. We were so disciplined today, but we won nothing from the referee in the second half while three or four important decisions went against us. When that happens in a close match, you have no chance to win."

Lagisquet was less than happy at Allan Lewis' refereeing of the mauls around which Biarritz, with their phenomenally strong forwards, base the lion's share of their game. He did not appreciate the way Serge Betsen, his world-class flanker, was singled out for special attention by the Northampton pack – "They tried very hard to hurt him on many occasions," the coach said – and he was distinctly underwhelmed when his outside-half, Julien Peyrelongue, was sent to the sin-bin after cutting down his opposite number, Paul Grayson, with a try-saving tackle shortly before the Jorgensen try.

Grayson happily conceded afterwards that it had been quite some tackle, but added: "The guy just stayed there, all over the ball. The referee blew up before our forwards shredded him, which was probably a good call from everyone's point of view. If I'd been him, I'd have been well relieved."

Biarritz were anything but. Having conceded the try, they worked their way back upfield, won themselves an attacking five-metre scrum and, had Peyrelongue been on the pitch, would have dropped a goal to square it and give themselves every chance of wrapping up the group. But he was not on the pitch. They panicked, Betsen picked up too early and, although Christophe Milheres threatened to score in the right corner, Ben Cohen was strong and sure with his tackle.

Grayson had an interesting afternoon. Lively with ball in hand, his kicking game, so dependable for so long, was uninspired. After missing three penalties he would normally have scored without a second thought, he handed the responsibility to Dawson, who promptly slotted a penalty and a conversion off the same right-hand post.

"Two dreadful kicks, five points – the bloke was born lucky," laughed Grayson. "Actually, he's really quite good in those situations. At Northampton, everybody is in it for everybody else. I had no hesitation in asking him to step up when it went wrong for me."

Biarritz started as though they meant it. Thomas Lièvremont, blessed with the hands of a natural footballer, controlled the early stages from No 8, while Betsen wrapped up opponents on the floor like a Turkish wrestler of old. Their scrum was big, big, big; their midfield dangerous. Jean-Emmanuel Cassin's try late in the first half, run in from 60 metres after a show of the ball that made utter mugs of three spluttering Midlanders, was beautifully realised. With Philippe Bernat-Salles in hot form on the right wing, Biarritz could and should have scored twice more.

But Northampton stood tall when required, none taller than young Mark Soden. As a result of Budge Pountney's gruesome injury in what is best described as a delicate area, Soden was shifted from No 8 to open-side and told to mix it with the ruffians. Mix it he did. With Mark Connors back in the mix after nine weeks of inactivity, the contest at the breakdown was more even than the Betsens of this world habitually find.

"I was sucking in a few seagulls out there," confessed a tired Connors. Those who heard him might just have unscrambled his meaning by now, had they not spent the last 48 hours struggling with the qualification rules.

Would someone kindly pass the slide rule?

Northampton: Tries Thompson, Jorgensen; Conversions Grayson, Dawson; Penalty Dawson. Biarritz: Try Cassin; Penalties Yachvili 3.

Northampton: N Beal; O Ripol (J Brooks 44), C Hyndman (P Jorgensen, 69), J Leslie (capt), B Cohen; P Grayson, M Dawson; T Smith (C Budgen, 62), S Thompson, M Stewart (R Morris, 52), S Williams, R Hunter (J Phillips 70), G Seely, M Soden, M Connors.

Biarritz: M Etcheverria; P Bernat-Salles, J-E Cassin (M Stcherbina, 58), G Bousses, P Bidabe; J Peyrelongue, D Yachvili; E Menieu (D Minassian, 64), J-M Gonzalez (capt) (J Campo, 78), D Avril (M Fitzgerald, 70), J-P Versailles (O Nauroy, 69), O Roumat, S Betsen, O Tonita (L Mazas, 80), T Lièvremont (C Milheres, 47).

Referee: A Lewis (Ireland).