The start of a new Investec Champions Cup campaign is always a cause for excitement for Northampton Saints lock Alex Coles, but he insists he and his team-mates will be men on a mission against Castres Olympique this afternoon.
The men in Black, Green and Gold know wrongs need to be put right following last Saturday’s disappointing loss against Gloucester that ended a proud unbeaten home record which had extended to 13 months.
Saints looked somewhat rusty in what was their first match back in the Gallagher Premiership following the Autumn Nations Series, with a poor first half ultimately giving them too steep a mountain to climb.
They are now looking to use the Champions Cup in the same way they managed to last year: as a springboard for their season.
Best of all, they are back at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens with a quick chance to put their frustrations about their display against Gloucester behind them.
On what went wrong against the Cherry and Whites, Coles said: “Losing at home, where we really pride ourselves on performing, is pretty gutting and the manner in which it happened was even more frustrating.
“I just think for that first half we didn’t put any of ourselves on the field, which just meant by the second half we had too much to do to catch up.
“Then a couple of disallowed tries meant we just didn’t have enough time to get the result back.
“Everyone was hurting from that result a lot and I think we’re all excited now to have a new challenge in Europe and we have a chance at home to redeem ourselves.”
Alex Coles
The match against Gloucester was Coles’ first in over a month after being involved with England’s squad for the autumn but not managing any time on the pitch in any of their four Tests.
The 25-year-old would be forgiven for feeling not quite up to speed and he accepts he found it hard to find his best form after not getting a chance to perform on a matchday for five weeks.
Coles said: “I was really excited to get back, but I think the combination of not having played and also being in a completely different system in defence and attack meant there was a little bit of a hard transition for me, personally, in just getting used to everything again.
“I was pleased to get a full 80 minutes under my belt, but I think there definitely was some elements of over-eagerness on my part and there were a couple of discipline errors I was disappointed in.”
Alex Coles
Having blown away a few cobwebs, Coles is now excited about the prospect of getting started all over again in Europe.
First up is the visit of Castres, a club who back in the day were as regular opponents for Saints as anybody they faced in the Premiership after they were drawn together in the same pool for four seasons running from 2010 to 2014.
There has been a slightly longer break between meetings this time – nearly eight years to be exact – and they have a more all-court game than the forward-orientated opposition they used to provide.
Coles said: “From the briefing we’ve had of them, they’ve got some traditional French strengths, like their scrum, like their maul, so as a forward pack we know we’ll have to front up in that area.
“We’re really looking forward to that challenge and getting stuck into that and the easiest way to show that physicality that we potentially lack in that first half last week is in that set-piece area.
“It’s a nice area for us to channel that energy into and then in the backs they’ve got some dangerous ball players and ball carriers, as a lot of French sides do, with some good Pacific Island players as well as some handy Frenchmen.
“We have to make sure our defensive work is on point, and we’re very excited.”
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