James Ramm breaks free to score Northampton's first try against Bulls. Photo: Adam Davy/PA
The record for most points in the first half of Champions Cup knockout rugby stood under three hours. Earlier in the day, Bordeaux-Bègles and Harlequins shared 40 points in the first 40 minutes of their spectacular show.
Northampton Saints and Pretoria's Bulls made that clear with 10 as they combined for seven first-half tries in a back-and-forth game that must have caused neck pain for the supporters on the halfway line. In almost every attack, ball carriers ran over or around defenders. A further five tries were added towards the end as the Saints won the slugfest and progressed to the semi-finals of Europe's elite competition for the first time since 2011.
Related: Harlequins beat Bordeaux in thriller to reach Champions Cup semi-finals
Their prize for battering a depleted Bulls outfit is a date with Leinster in Croke Park in early May. They have every chance of causing an upset if they can reproduce the attacking spark they showed here. But unless they correct their defenses, Ireland's most important province will tear them to shreds.
It took a relative age - more than 10 minutes - to register the first score. Northampton fullback James Ramm ran an excellent line and collected a flat pass at pace before dummying on his way to touch down. From there it was a free-for-all. Cameron Hanekom immediately hit back and carried Courtney Lawes over the line. But Lawes made amends to force his way forward shortly after following Alex Coles' stunning breakthrough into the field.
Leinster emphatically ended La Rochelle's bid for a hat-trick of Champions Cup titles by beating them 40-13 at the Aviva Stadium.
Ronan O'Gara's team defeated Leinster in the last two finals by a combined margin of just four points.
But La Rochelle's quest for silverware ended in the quarter-finals this time, while Leinster marched on in search of a record fifth tournament win.
Wing James Lowe (2), scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park, flanker Ryan Baird and hooker Dan Sheehan scored tries, while fly-half Ross Byrne kicked three conversions and three penalties as Leinster never looked in danger of suffering another defeat against their fierce opponents. rivals.
La Rochelle saw prop Louis Penverne go over for a try on the stroke of half-time, with Antoine Hastoy adding two penalties and a conversion.
But they were blown away in the second period, failing to score a point, as Leinster stormed into the Champions Cup semi-finals again.
Byrne opened the scoring with an eight-minute penalty from 45 yards, and Leinster dominated the early exchanges, which was underlined when they scored their opening try just nine minutes later.
La Rochelle's defense was stretched in all directions before Lowe touched down and Byrne converted, before Byrne and Hastoy kicked penalties and a second Hastoy three-pointer made it 13-6.
Another strike from Byrne restored a 10-point lead before Leinster struck again following some clever interplay between Lowe and Gibson-Park that ended with the scrum-half sprinting across unopposed.
Byrne's conversion put Leinster in control of the match, but they could not close out the opening 40 minutes before their opponents dragged themselves back into contention.
Leinster invaded inside their 22 and La Rochelle's powerful driving lineout play was graphically illustrated when Penverne touched down and Hastoy converted to make it 23-13 at half-time.
But La Rochelle suffered a double blow early in the second period, conceding another try and seeing scrumhalf Tawera Kerr-Barlow clear.
Baird took advantage of a poor tackle attempt from Hastoy - and Byrne converted after a long delay, while Kerr-Barlow received treatment before leaving the field.
La Rochelle knew they had to score next or there was no way back, but in four minutes they conceded two tries.
Sheehan claimed flanker Josh van der Flier's powerful surge first, before Lowe added his second when he finished impressively after chasing a kick into space. PA media
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Ollie Sleightholme then refused to be tackled as he fended off several Bulls players to open a 28-10 lead. But the tourists rallied, first with hooker Akker van der Merwe racing through the tram and then with winger Sebastian de Klerk pulling off an intercept inside his own 22 meters before beating Sleightholme in an 80-metre sprint race. Chris Smith's conversion took the game's total to 50.
Naturally, many in attendance were in need of a refreshing drink and many had not yet returned to their seats when Coles completed another scythe set-piece move sparked by Alex Mitchell's break. Ramm had his second when he received a pass after an overlap and from the subsequent restart De Klerk had a try disallowed because Hanekom's tackle in the build-up was deemed dangerous after review.
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The yellow card shown effectively ended the match as a contest. If Saints had no trouble scoring at will against 15, they would have little trouble against a defensive line missing a man. Once Bulls No.8 had taken his place in the sin bin, Fraser Dingwall was on the scorecard.
At the center of it all was Fin Smith, Northampton's 21-year-old maestro at fly-half. Even amid all the chaos, he was the embodiment of calm, grabbing the right pass and positioning teammates as if they were chess pieces in a four-dimensional game. With Mitchell on his inside and a blistering backline to unleash, he justified the hype.
Of course, it helped that the Bulls left thirteen regular starters, including three recent World Cup winners, at home. The understudies in light blue played with visible pride, but they were a disjointed group as they failed to dismiss accusations that their weakened side was an insult to the tournament. Mitchell scored Northampton's eighth try and Juarno Augustus, a former South African under-20 player, grabbed the ninth. The Saints' quest for a Premiership and Champions Cup double title continues.
