Ratuniyarawa sees red as Saints are stunned by London Irish
Referee Tom Foley was the most unpopular man in Northampton and boos rang out at the final whistle, with Irish celebrating a last-gasp 20-16 win thanks to Dave Porecki's try.
It brought and end to the men from the Madejski Stadium's seven-match losing streak and left Saints feeling deflated as their four-match winning run came to a crushing conclusion.
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Hide AdThere were two big flashpoints on the night as Irish No.9 Ben Meehan was only yellow carded for an off-the-ball tip tackle on Cobus Reinach during the first half.
That infuriated the home fans, and they were even more dismayed 10 minutes into the second half as Ratuniyarawa was sent off for making contact with the head of Harry Elrington at a ruck.
Saints were fired up by that incident and looked set to secure the win as James Grayson added a penalty to their 13-8 lead.
But Irish still had life in them and after Franco van der Merwe scored six minutes from time, Adam Coleman charged down a Henry Taylor box kick, allowing Porecki to score.
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Hide AdStephen Myler, on his first return to Franklin's Gardens, couldn't add the extras, but it didn't matter as he had taken sufficient time to make sure it would be the final act of the match.
Saints' misery was added to by the early departure of Piers Francis, who, just back from concussion, was stretchered off after appearing to suffer another head injury.
Saints had been so flat before the Francis injury and their lethargy continued, allowing London Irish to take the lead as a long pass was looped out to Ollie Hassell-Collins.
Myler missed the conversion, hitting the post, much to the surprise of all who had watched him at the Gardens during his long stay at Saints.
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Hide AdAnd the home crowd then tried to get involved, desperately seeking to spark Saints into life.
Teimana Harrison did his best with some strong carrying and Saints earned a penalty, which Grayson kicked to get his team on the board on 23 minutes.
But London Irish were carrying plenty of threat and they almost scored again as flanker Blair Cowan tried to touch the ball against the base of the post but dropped it in the process.
Irish soon won a penalty at the scrum, but it was reversed after a major flashpoint involving the two scrum-halves.
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Hide AdMeehan tip tackled Reinach off the ball and after speaking to his TMO, referee Foley showed a yellow card, to a backdrop of loud boos as the home fans felt it should have been red.
The frustration soon grew further as Foley awarded Irish a penalty for what he felt was a deliberate knock-on from Alex Coles, and Myler made no mistake.
Saints had barely had any attacking possession, but when they finally got some, Reinach made it count, scooting over the line after the pack had applied the pressure from a lineout.
Grayson kicked well from close to the touchline and Saints led for the first time at 10-8 up.
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Hide AdAnd Grayson was soon adding more points to the tally after Irish conceded a penalty in front of their own posts.
Grayson had another penalty chance five minutes into the second period, but he fired it wide from distance.
And there was soon a major incident as Ratuniyarawa was shown a red card for a shoulder to the head of prop Elrington at a ruck.
There was more boos, even louder this time, as the red card was dished out.
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Hide AdThe Saints fans were fired up by the incident and so were the players, putting the squeeze on Irish, who were defending with real desire.
A sustained spell of Saints pressure came to nothing as Grayson missed what looked to be a simple penalty attempt.
But after replacement scrum-half Nick Phipps was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on, Grayson made amends with a nice strike to take the lead up to 16-8.
London Irish looked to have scored with 11 minutes to go as Curtis Rona released Hassell-Collins and he flew over the line, but Reinach made an incredible tackle to help dislodge the ball and prevent the try.
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Hide AdBut it wasn't long before London Irish did score, Franco van der Merwe flying over as gaps started to appear in the Saints rearguard.
Myler converted to cut the gap to just one point and after some difficult late moments for replacement Taylor, who was on for the injured Naiyaravoro, Irish won it.
Coleman charged down Taylor's attempted clearance and Porecki pounced to pouch a huge win for his team.
Saints: Tuala; Sleightholme (Collins 39), Hutchinson, Francis (Symons 13), Naiyaravoro (Taylor 66); Grayson, Reinach; B Franks (Waller 57), Haywood (Fish 61), O Franks (Painter 57); Coles, Ratuniyarawa; Wood, Harrison (c), Eadie (Bean 50).
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Hide AdLondon Irish: Stokes; Naholo, Rona, Hepetema, Hassell-Collins; Myler, Meehan (Phipps 50); Elrington (Dell 57), Porecki, Kepu (Hoskins 57); van der Merwe (c), Coleman; Rogerson, Cowan, Tuisue (Mafi 61).
Referee: Tom Foley