Reaction // Leinster loss a ’good hit out’ for Saints, says Vesty

Head coach Sam Vesty saw the preseason match against Leinster as a good hit out for Northampton Saints despite their loss, as the side’s preparations cranked up ahead of the 2024/25 season.

The men in Black, Green and Gold were beaten 54-26 by the Irish visitors to cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens as the hosts used the opportunity to give game time to 31 players – not including their England contingent that toured New Zealand.

James Ramm’s early try was cancelled out by four Leinster scores before the break. Robbie Smith, Will Glister and Sam Graham crossed the line in the second period but Leinster remained on top with four more tries of their own.

“We were trying to do lots of the right things, lots of the actions we wanted to see,” said Vesty. “We made a lot of mistakes doing those things and that's not massively a surprise for a first pre-season game.

“Leinster were a bit further ahead in their match prep, and it showed really. On the whole, we showed really good intent, we know what we're trying to do and that's a real positive.

“We were really good defensively. We weren’t good enough in specific areas, so our maul defence let us down and we ended up defending on our line too often.

Amongst the new signings that played their first game for the club were forwards Josh Kemeny and Callum Hunter-Hill, both drawing praise from Vesty.

“I thought Callum, the first time he's put the shirt on, I was really impressed with him,” he said. "It was good to see Josh – he’s got so much intent in the contact and we saw a lot of that. He also made that break at the end there and he's obviously a good athlete.

“The new guys in the pack did really well and in the backs, I thought Archie McParland was fantastic. We made a few mistakes in the backs but it’s going to happen on day one. At the end, no one in our backs was over 20!

“TT [Toby Thame] was fantastic and played 80 minutes. It wasn't the plan but we got a little injury so he had to play the full game and he did a really good job. He's got a good head on him so he won't get fazed doing that.”

Next up for Saints is the visit of Bedford Blues to the Gardens on Friday (kick-off: 7.45pm) in the Mobbs Memorial Match, with tickets still available from £12.50 adults and £7 child* HERE.

Vesty added: “It will be another really good hit-out and we won't change what we're going after. We’ll want a better showing in our maul defence, a better showing in our breakdown and I think we will get that. The Bedford game is the next step to give us the best opportunity to be at our best against Bath for 80 minutes.”