Langdon: Saints motivated by prospect of home Ro16 tie

Curtis Langdon arrived at Northampton Saints last summer and has hit the ground running in Black, Green and Gold, scoring five tries in 16 appearances – a statistic the hooker will be hoping to build upon against Bayonne this week. 

Saints go into Friday night’s Investec Champions Cup contest top of Pool 3 and a victory at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens would strengthen their chances of returning to the venue for the knock-out stages.

The 26-year-old hooker discussed the big game ahead, his experience of Friday’s opponents, life at Saints and his international ambitions in this week’s media call...

Q: What are your thoughts ahead of another exciting challenge this evening at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens?
CL: I am really looking forward to the Gardens being packed out again. Obviously, it’s a big game for us having won away at Glasgow and here at home to Toulon. 

Q: Have you played against Bayonne previously?
CL: I played at Bayonne last season when I was with Montpellier. It was a cool place to play, and it’s a nice part of France down there. They have a stage in the corner of their ground, there’s always a live band playing on there which makes for a pretty cool atmosphere. I am familiar with them. They have a good ten who runs the game really well for them. Their [Bayonne] hooker Vincent Giudicelli was actually at Montpellier with me last year, so we played a few games together and obviously trained against each other all season, so it will be good to hopefully play against him.

Q: Do you speak any French now after your stint over in Montpellier?
CL: A little bit. I messaged Vincent and started speaking to him in French, but then he came back to me in French and I had to use Google Translate to understand it! I’ll be able to ask how many numbers they’ve got in the lineout in French, but unfortunately not much other than that.

Q: How are your finding life at Saints so far?
CL: I am absolutely loving it. Obviously, playing winning rugby is awesome – when you’re winning, you feel good going into the next week, so this run of seven wins in a row has been really enjoyable. The training weeks, there’s always more energy after a big win the weekend before, so I am just really enjoying it. We’re into that part of the season now where there’s games we need to win if we want to kick on, and achieve what we want to this season. This one, a Champions Cup group game at home, is one that we absolutely need to win if we want to kick on in this competition.

Then, not wanting to look too far ahead, but after this block we will have Newcastle Falcons, which is a big game at home if we want to keep our spot at the top of the table – that’s a game we need to be getting five points from. Although we are winning and things are going really well, we need to keep the standards high in training and make sure we put performances in at the weekend, so we don’t have an off week and end up not having these positives conversations throughout the weeks about how well we’ve been playing, and the position we’re in.

Q: Have you allowed yourself to think of your international aspirations now, with the Six Nations just around the corner?
CL: I would probably be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about it a little bit. It is obviously something that I really want to do, having made my England debut a couple of years ago now. It’s a squad that I really want to be back involved with. But I am trying not to think about it too much, just focusing on playing well here and getting as many wins as possible, staying on top of the Premiership table and then also achieving something in the Champions Cup. Hopefully if we’re going as well as what I know we can here, and I am doing my part in the team, I’ll get another opportunity to play for England sooner rather than later.