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Fraser Dingwall's message to Northampton on eve of Champions Cup final
By PA
Fraser Dingwall says Northampton can “just go and attack it” when they face Bordeaux-Begles in the Investec Champions Cup final on Saturday.
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Saints, fresh from a stunning semi-final victory over Leinster in Dublin, last won the tournament 25 years ago.
The Northampton line-up that day for a 9-8 victory over Munster included players like Pat Lam, Allan Bateman, Ben Cohen and Tin Rodber.
A quarter of a century on, the spotlight hovers above Saints’ four-strong British and Irish Lions contingent – Tommy Freeman, Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell and Henry Pollock – as spearheads for coveted silverware.
And if they topple first-time Champions Cup finalists Bordeaux – conquerors of Ulster, Munster and Toulouse in the knockout phase – Northampton will become the first English winners since Exeter in 2020.
“In this week, it’s kind of addressing that semi-final, but also addressing the whole journey throughout this competition,” Saints captain Dingwall said.
“We beat the Bulls in Pretoria, and that was a massive emotional spike, but then we’ve kind of backed it up again.
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“We beat Munster at home, then won the round of 16 and quarter-final against French sides.
“We’ve kind of proved to ourselves over and over again throughout this competition that we can play against the top opposition in big occasions, but have those emotional spikes at the right times.”
Saints won widespread acclaim following their performance against four-time Champions Cup winners Leinster.
A 37-34 triumph showcased Northampton’s attacking brilliance, led by hat-trick hero Freeman, but another huge challenge now awaits.
While Bordeaux might be relative Champions Cup knockout novices, they have looked a class apart at times this season, inspired by try machines Damian Penaud and Louis Bielle-Biarrey.
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Dingwall added: “We can just go and attack it. I have got full belief if we have a good performance, that will get us to where we want to get to.
“As good as the semi-final was, it now becomes irrelevant, doesn’t it, really, because you’ve got a final step? No-one has won a trophy.
“As good as a day like that was, it means nothing if you don’t win the trophy as well. I think it becomes even greater if you go and back it up on Saturday.
“It becomes even more of a thing if you then go and beat a really good Bordeaux team, who also have got loads of great players, loads of great individuals who can do some great stuff.”
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I think this one might be a bridge too far for Northhampton.
Everything stuck against Leinster. 3 quick fire tries in the first half without reply, Leinster suffering from staleness (too much cotton wool) especially in defense, and poor selection decisions in that half. Second half they Leinster 19-10 and it could/should have been 26-10 or 33-10.
Leinster didn’t lose because of the ref but Broussets interpretation of scrums and missed penalty try at the death won’t be available to The Saints this time. And Bordeaux are as good as Leinster, better probably.
Leinster did not get many tests in the lead up to their semi final and The Saints were able to profit brilliantly from a build up of unaddressed weaknesses. Not so with the battle hardened and well rounded Bordeaux team.
They threw everything at Leinster including a serious amount of sh1thousery in the tunnel before the match (Northhampton players didn’t face forward in the tunnel, but turned to face Leinster and stare at them). A response from Leinster could have resulted in a tunnel brawl. Not known if that affected Leinster but an unusual amount of disrespect there. The Northampton Official Youtube account also showed quite disparaging comments from Northampton officials and players and officials after the match towards Leinster. Bordeaux will know to expect sh1thousery and disrespect and crucially a disrespectful English team is the biggest motivator of any French side.
Lastly, and unfortunately for The Saints, Bordeaux have a very canny Irish attack coach. There will be zero complacency. The man will have learned every lesson from Leinster’s demise.