Higgins stunned by ‘whirlwind season’ for Saints Wheelchair Rugby

Saints Wheelchair Rugby claimed a spectacular maiden WR5s Premiership title on Sunday afternoon, and coach Jamie Higgins could not hide his pride as the side in Black, Green and Gold lifted the trophy.

Just nine months after earning their promotion from the Championship division of the competition, which is hosted by Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby (the national governing body for the sport), Saints rounded off the campaign in style with an extra-time try against defending champions Leicester Tigers to seal the silverware at Stoke Mandeville Stadium.

As the dust settled on a season which saw Northampton’s unprecedented run of form take them from a newly-promoted side to champions in a single term, Higgins admitted he could not quite believe how the dramatic finale had panned out.

“It’s still not really sunk in,” he said. “The last 24 hours have been a bit of a whirlwind for the team, I don’t think it’s quite hit home yet. 

“Our focus at the start of the campaign was to stay competitive after getting promoted. We really just wanted to make sure we stayed in the top-tier – it wasn’t until the Finals Weekend that we started to think we could take the title.

“This win has been building; we won two games in the first round of the competition, three in the second weekend, and to do the clean sweep of four wins on Sunday was a real testament to the team’s hard work.”

Heading into Finals Weekend sitting in second place behind East Midlands rivals Leicester Tigers, Saints had to remain unbeaten through the final four clashes to top the table.

Higgins’ side promptly swept aside Stoke Mandeville Maulers and Ospreys in the morning session – the scores 26-9 and 16-6 in Saints’ favour respectively. 

By the end of their third match, Saints had not only secured their third win of the day as they toppled West Country Hawks 26-11, but had also sealed at least a second-place finish with one match remaining.

That meant Higgins’ side secured European qualification, and will now head to the Poland Cup for the first ever WR5s international competition in November.

But Saints did not rest there, with one match standing in-between them and a first Premiership title. Taking on two-time champions Leicester, the scores were level (21-21) at the end of regular time, so the game entered a sudden-death period – with the first score deciding who took home the title. 

Tigers claimed the ball on the tip-off, but a hard-fought turnover from their skipper Gerry Mac earned Saints possession, and after a successful inbound ball from Kascie Higgins found Danny Dawoud, the former GB international carried the ball across the line to hand a jubilant Northampton side the crown.  

Higgins added: “Watching our captain, Gerry, lift the trophy was a really proud moment for the whole Club. It felt like something out of a movie, especially as we also came so close to winning the game in normal time.

“But first, we’re preparing to host our first-ever event in the Midlands Development League this coming weekend at Kettering Sports Arena.

“We’re currently top of the standings in that competition too ahead of the penultimate round of matches, and it’s extremely exciting for the squad to have a chance to play in front of a home crowd for the first time on Sunday, especially now we have a Premiership trophy to show off!”

To watch Saints Wheelchair Rugby in action in the Midlands Development League, head down to Kettering Sports Arena on Sunday 28 August. Entry is free and matches begin at 9.30am.