Northampton Saints scrum-half Alex Mitchell believes his side’s summer preparations have put themselves in the best possible position to hit the ground running in the Gallagher Premiership this season.
The men in Black, Green and Gold ended their preseason campaign with one victory and one defeat to their name after clashes against Bedford Blues and Ospreys respectively.
Saints were beaten 31-24 by the Welsh side on Friday evening, with Mitchell himself leading out the team at Dunraven Brewery Field, but produced some scintillating attacking rugby in parts with the set piece also functioning well.
With their league opener against Sale Sharks less than a week away, not to mention the Premiership Rugby Cup curtain-raiser on Thursday evening against Saracens, it will be a busy few days for Northampton – and Mitchell insists the squad are relishing the challenge.
“The two preseason games have been sloppy in parts – but that’s a good thing,” he said.
“There’s no point beating Championship sides by 50 points in preseason; we’ve played two good matches against good opposition over the last couple of weeks, and so we’ve put ourselves in a good position now to fly into the Sale match and do a job there.
“Sharks are obviously a really good side and it’s always a tough place to go, but we know we did the business when it mattered last year, so hopefully we can continue where we left off.
“The next few weeks will be about getting everyone (especially our new boys) up to speed, but I feel like we’ve done a really good job of that in preseason and we’re ready for the big games to start now.”
Alex Mitchell
Saints scored four tries in Friday’s friendly clash, with a well-drilled lineout drive producing a penalty score before Angus Scott-Young, Tom Collins and Brandon Nansen all also crossed the whitewash.
But Northampton were stung during an open second 40 minutes by four tries from the hosts, the final one from Luke Morgan seeing Ospreys take the lead for the first time since early in the first half, and Mitchell admitted the men in Black, Green and Gold will need to show more discipline moving forwards.
He added: “It was a game that got away from us a little at the end there – it definitely wasn’t an 80-minute performance.
“We were really good for periods of the game; when we played with tempo and put the ball in front of them, we attacked really well, and I thought we could have put a few more chances away as it felt like we had them on toast, especially in the first half.
“But we didn’t do that and then let them in for a few softer tries towards the end of the game. It was a really good hit-out though as we had some new boys in the team, some others playing in a few different positions, so it was really good preparation for us ahead of the season.
“I’m feeling good. I was obviously blowing a bit out there and my lungs were blowing, but it was good to be back out there with the boys and playing the high-tempo game I like to play.
“I loved getting the opportunity to [captain the team]. Obviously it means there are a few more things to think about out there, and a few more responsibilities, but I tried to push the boys as best I could.”
