Saracens expose same old problems for Saints

Once is a mistake but twice is a pattern and a second embarrassment in six weeks at the hands of the same opposition shows Northampton haven’t learned their lessons.

This was worse than that opening day defeat to Saracens in the Premiership. You can try to brush off a game like that at Twickenham as a one-off because you can say that it was on a neutral ground or a big pitch or that it was the first game of the season so you were rusty.

But to lose even more heavily than that, and in the manner that they did in front of their own fans, is unforgivable.

Going into the first game of the Champions Cup, you expect the team to be absolutely pumped and really fired up to make an impression, especially given that they had to work so hard to get into the competition and play for an extra couple of weeks at the end of last season in the play-offs.

Courtney Lawes showed some physicality but that was about it. They got bullied all over the pitch. It was a lacklustre performance and there wasn’t much evidence of physical intent for me.

It’s a cliché but forwards win you matches and backs decide by how many and I’ve thought for a while that, Lawes aside, this Saints pack just isn’t physical enough. When you take Louis Picamoles out of it from last season as well, it really is very underpowered.

Northampton have got a decent backline but if you can’t match the opposition up front and be as physical as them, then you’re in trouble.

When you get a second bite at the cherry against a team that embarrassed you just six weeks ago, the least you expect is a gung ho attitude, some real fight and a massive effort to physically dominate them.

It just didn’t look like there was any fight in that Northampton team and they looked shell-shocked from the very first minute.

I’ve been on the wrong end of hidings before but body language and giving the impression that you’re putting everything into the game physically is important and I just didn’t see that. You have to question the mentality of the players and ask how much playing for Northampton means to them.

They travel to Clermont this week and you have to hope there will be a reaction, as there was in round two of the Premiership campaign, but they’re on a hiding to nothing at the Stade Marcel Michelin.

That is one of the most intimidating places to play in the world and if you can’t turn up against Saracens on your own patch after you’ve been embarrassed against them six weeks ago, then you have no chance over there.

As bad as Northampton were, though, Saracens were unbelievable. There are a few pretenders to their European crown but that is the definition of laying down a marker. They have reasserted that they are the best team in Europe and shown that they intend to defend their title and are as serious as ever.

That’s 19 games unbeaten in the top tier of European competition now. Nobody has ever done that before. It’s a unique achievement and they’re a special group of players who look determined to emulate Toulon’s achievement of winning three straight European Cups. http://gty.im/861835092

Saints face Wasps when the Premiership returns and that game will be huge in terms of momentum and mood in the camp because a two-week break for the Anglo Welsh Cup follows that and then we’re into the autumn internationals.

Wasps have got their own issues at the moment, having lost five games on the spin, and they’ll be going into that match off the back of a cup final against Quins this weekend. Both will have been disappointed with their results in round one and the loser is, realistically, going to be out of the Champions Cup already.

Wasps were underpowered when they faced Saracens recently with 20-year-old Jack Willis starting and his 18-year-old brother Tom coming off the bench but at least they showed some fight and the desire to play for Wasps.

I didn’t see any Northampton player, apart from Lawes, looking like they really wanted to fight for the jersey.

They have certainly got a mental block playing against Saracens now but I think it’s more than that and they lack the power to compete at the highest level.

They won four games on the bounce before losing at Gloucester last week and went top of the Premiership briefly but I think that has papered over the cracks and this latest thrashing has exposed the fact that there are still major problems to be addressed.

Sport does give you the opportunity to right the wrongs of the previous week, though, and prove to everyone what you’re all about. They have got to go and get some pride back over in France but whether they can do that remains to be seen.