Northampton Saints booked their place in a second consecutive Investec Champions Cup semi-final last week, with a stellar 51-16 victory over Castres Olympique in the quarter-finals.
First-half scores from Tommy Freeman, Curtis Langdon and Alex Coles saw Saints lead 20-13 at the break, before Northampton pulled away in the second 40 minutes – sending George Furbank, Henry Pollock (2) and Tom Pearson over to progress to the next stage.
For Saints’ Director of Rugby, Phil Dowson, it was the side’s mindset and determination to stick to their gameplan in that second half at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens that was the most pleasing.
“In the second half we really turned it on and pulled away,” said Dowson. “It was better [than last week’s victory over Clermont Auvergne] because the pressure’s different, Castres had been here before, they knew what to expect and had nothing to fear.
“They had a much-changed side to the one we played back in December, so there were all sorts of psychological elements that made it a tough week.
“But credit to the players with how they approached it and executed the plan. It was one of those days that you really enjoy at the Gardens.
“It was a great performance, a really good atmosphere, all the players doing their jobs and bought in, I'd say that across the squad.”
Phil Dowson, Director of Rugby
“We’ve got to make sure we focus now for a short week leading into Newcastle.”
Saints celebrated a welcome return to action for Club captain Furbank as well as the victory over Castres on Saturday, with the England fullback coming off the bench to feature in Black, Green and Gold for the first time since December.
Furbank’s involvement came a little earlier than planned – with an injury to George Hendy forcing the replacement fullback on in the game’s third minute – but after assisting two of Saints’ scores and bagging a try himself, Dowson was thrilled to see the 28-year-old back in action.
Dowson said: “We have preseason games for a reason, to get people built into it, and he's had no preseason, he just trained last week so credit to him.
“He had two assists, he scored a try, but he was running on empty and feeling a bit sore, so we decided to change him (during the second half).”
Saints will face Leinster in the next round in a replay of last season’s Investec Champions Cup semi-final, travelling this year to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday 3 May (kick-off: 5.30pm).
And while the prospect of another European knock-out tie is an exciting one, Dowson’s focus for now is the return to league action with Gallagher Premiership matches against Newcastle Falcons (Friday 18 April) and Bristol Bears (Saturday 26 April) coming up before they can contemplate a trip to Dublin.
“[Facing Leinster] is really exciting,” Dowson said. “But we’ve got Newcastle away and Bristol at home first.
“We want to make sure we take some of this form into the Premiership and make sure we’re ready for that. We’ve got to make sure we’re excited about the [Dublin] opportunity but that we know what's coming first.”
Next Home Match
