Match report | Pau 27-35 Northampton Saints

George Hendy's try four minutes from time sealed a dramatic win for Northampton Saints in an enthralling Champions Cup contest against Pau.

Argentina number eight Facundo Isa put the French side ahead before the game burst into life after half-an-hour when James Ramm and Fraser Dingwall crossed for Saints either side of Gregoire Arfeuil's tremendous finish.

The hosts led by two points at half-time but Ramm's second gave Saints the lead after 43 minutes before the winger was sent off for dangerously pulling down Thomas Jolmes as the Pau lock caught the ball in the air.

Arfeuil added his second before a reply from Alex Mitchell, making his 150th Saints appearance. The game remained level until the 76th minute when Fin Smith shaped for a drop-goal before spinning a pass wide to Hendy to race into the corner and secure a hard-fought victory.

Smith kicked a last-minute penalty to ensure last year's losing finalists took five points and left Pau - making their first Champions Cup appearance for 25 years - with nothing from a game to which they contributed hugely.

It was the first competitive fixture between the two teams and Pau, the surprise package of the French Top 14 this season, were looking to defend an unbeaten home record which had helped them rise to second in the table behind Toulouse.

Saints started brightly and went close as a flowing move got captain George Furbank over the tryline but the England full-back lost the ball as he reached out to dot down.

Pau took a little while to settle but began putting pressure on Saints - and after winning a line-out, they went through the phases and Isa powered over.

Saints' inventive attacking play was let down by several early handling errors but they clicked just after the half-hour mark. JJ van der Mescht made the hard yards for Mitchell to spin a pass wide to Ramm to cross the whitewash.

Pau were unfazed and hit straight back with ex-Wasps scrum-half Dan Robson kicking in behind for wing Arfeuil who finished magnificently, collecting the bouncing ball and grounding with millimetres to spare.

The try-scoring flurry continued as Saints replied immediately through Dingwall but Pau took a narrow lead into half-time.

Saints went ahead for the first time soon after the restart as Furbank found Ramm on the wing and he dived in acrobatically to finish a fine move one-handed.

But Ramm turned villain in the 47th minute with his pull on the airborne lock Jolmes, who landed awkwardly on his head. Ramm was given a red card, leaving his side 20 minutes to negotiate with 14 men.

Pau took immediate advantage as the Robson-Arfeuil combination worked again. The English scrum-half's kick was chased down well by the 21-year-old winger before Saints levelled again through Mitchell's bonus-point try.

Smith and Axel Desperes exchanged penalties to make it 27-27 and set up a frantic finale.

The visitors sealed the win with four minutes remaining when Smith's quick-thinking created the space for Hendy to sprint away into the corner as Saints got their European campaign under way in style.