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Premiership leaders plotting European conquest after perfect start
With two wins from two already in the Investec Champions Cup this season, Northampton Saints head into their home tie against Bayonne on Friday as arguably the form team in Europe at the moment.
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Top of the Gallagher Premiership, unbeaten in their past seven matches and scoring a shedload of tries, Phil Dowson’s side seem insatiable at the moment, and their comeback win against second-place Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park on Saturday solidified their credentials as a force to be reckoned with at the moment.
The team is crammed full of some of the form players in England currently, with recently crowned Premiership player of the month Courtney Lawes at the top of the list of in-form stars.
Now the Saints want to bring their free-flowing game onto the European stage, according to winger Ollie Sleightholme.
The 23-year-old is the Premiership’s leading try-scorer this season, helped by his hat-trick against the Chiefs, where he was on the end of some of the most fluid passages of play any team has produced this season. Speaking to the EPCR recently, he said that they want to carry their good form into fixtures against Bayonne at Franklin’s Gardens and against United Rugby Championship winners Munster at Thomond Park, as they seek a second European crown.
“We’re top of the pile now here [in the Premiership] and we want to transfer that over to Europe. We want to put our game on the European stage,” he said.
“We’ve had a few games recently where we’ve come up against a team on a winning streak.
“We went away to Glasgow and they hadn’t lost for something like 18 games at home, and we turned them over.
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“It’s just a case of knowing that when we put our game on the pitch, we do our things really well.”
Of course, Sleightholme emphasised that their good position at the moment means nothing if they do not perform when it comes to knockout rugby. However, two good results over the next two weeks would give them a favourable tie in Europe when the knockout stages do arrive.
He said: “[Being top of the league] is always a good place to be, but it means nothing if you’re not there at the end of the season or if you don’t perform in knockout rugby when it comes to it.
“Week in, week out, we just need to look at the next week as a new game. Do what we need to do to get that next win and keep moving forward.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
Yeah nah he comes across as a funny bloke, but that stopped abruptly after the Nutcracker Prince debacle✋
1 Go to commentsAt this point I can’t watch him without thinking he’s a dirty slimebag. He should have been banned for the same amount of time that Quinn was out. It took Tupaea near on a fricking year to get fit enough to play again and his leg will never be the same. The other crap thing is that he was at ABs level and now he has to claw his way back there when he could have had several games under his belt.
4 Go to commentsThe Black Ferns 7’s have been without Captain Sarah Hirini now since Dec 23 in Dubai where she suffered a bad ACL injury - hopefully she is on the road to recovery for Madrid and Paris. Now also have Tyler King and Shiray kaka on the Injured List but the Team still found a way to win in Singapore and claim the overall Title.
1 Go to commentsUtter grub, hope he gets his leg broken. Shocking he is still playing after intentionally breaking quinn tupaeas knee
4 Go to commentsGreat to see NZ 7s teams finally coming into form and playing at the level that is expected of them.
2 Go to commentsChief Cheapshot on the market again.
4 Go to commentsCrusaders went all in to buy Hotham and Kemara staight from Hamilton Boys. Then they picked up Reihana and Hohepa; all have been dropped for superstar Havili, who is a very good fullback, that’s it. Ennor and Goodhue were schoolboy stars too but went backwards at the Crusaders. Maybe they have finally decided to give another poach Levi Aumua the ball?
13 Go to commentsJoe S has some talent to pick from. The Reds loosies look the best in Super? Aus might just give Razor a headache this year. Int. experience v Cantab greenhorn:) Should be fun.
13 Go to commentsEnd to end play, “THE FANS” this game was entertainment of the best. The conditions added to the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsSorry to say, but sadly the sadas were just ordinary and havilli at 10 as an abs selection just won’t cut it. He’s better suited in the centre’s and is a victim of past charge down kicks, he’s too slow under pressure. There’s better talent further north and I don’t mean dmac however I believe razor will sort him out. A feature of his presents on the park is the fact that the guys will follow him.
13 Go to commentsMarler was brilliant throughout both in the scrum and open play. His slap made virtually no contact with Ramos who milked it for a penalty when he could have been a decent sportsman and laughed it off, it was non-violent and shouldn't have been penalised. Smith failed repeatedly to kick when necessary and put up a couple of bombs into the TLS 22 that just handed back possession at key moments to the other side.
3 Go to commentsCros was outstanding and rightly awarded France TVs player of the match award. Mallia was brilliant as usual (the y is below the 6 on a UK keyboard and he deserves better than that). Level also seems to have been scored harshly as he walked the ball into touch under pressure from a Lynagh kick from well outside his own half which should never have led to a 50-22. Agree with BullShark that Dupont, while class at times, seemed to go missing for patches in the second half with props, hookers and wings frequently filling in at 9 as he couldn't get off the deck and up to the next ruck on time. A 7 by his standards at best, his kicking was also too long, too often. Kinghorn's overall contribution was worth well more than a five.
4 Go to commentsThe Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
4 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
3 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
4 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
3 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to comments