By Ben Grundy
Phil Dowson is excited about Northampton Saints’ clash with the ‘very dangerous and talented’ Harlequins, and the battle between Fin and Marcus Smith this Friday October 4th.
The Premiership Champions recovered from their loss to Bath in front of a sold-out Cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, with a 30-24 victory over Exeter Chiefs last weekend.
Saints’ Director of Rugby was pleased with his side’s performance and admitted that Saints scoring from the boot via cross-field kicks was a calculated move worked on in training: “The way Exeter defend with that high blitz defence, we were aware of that and the space out wide.
“They defend in a similar vein to how England defend and one of the areas that there is space for is cross-field kicks, so we took advantage of that and on one occasion we just about got over (the try-line) with Hutch (Rory Hutchinson),” Dowson said.
The men in Black, Green and Gold defeated Harlequins at home last season but were beaten n the reverse fixture at The Stoop. Ahead of Friday’s clash, the Saints Director of Rugby highlighted both the defensive strength and attacking threats of the visitors:
“They (Harlequins) have been very good. I think Harlequins defend like we would, and they have some guys who are unbelievable over the ball. They are a bit of a nightmare to attack against because they have really good defenders, and they have got good guys who turn the ball over. Traditionally it’s been a high-scoring game. They were probably unlucky to lose up at Sale, (they are) a very dangerous and talented group.”
The Saints boss also admitted that there will be competition between both Fin and Marcus Smith, who will be actively competing for the England number 10 jersey after the injury to George Ford and in Owen Farrell’s absence: “It’s exciting, it’s a great storyline and I’m sure that both those guys (Fin Smith and Marcus Smith) are aware of it also, they’ve obviously spent a lot of time together over the summer on tour in New Zealand and Japan and it will be interesting to see how that plays out.”
Curtis Langdon feels as though Quins are unpredictable and that Saints need to be on high alert, when the London-based club visit the Gardens: “I think when you play Harlequins you are expecting the unexpected in terms of their attack, they like to throw the ball about. We’re going to have to defend for long phases and we are going to have to be alert to the quick tap and quick lineouts all evening.”
The hooker also stressed in his role as a forward, how crucial dominating the breakdown would be to get a result on Friday: “For us we are a team who likes to play fast so the breakdown is really important, getting there early, they (Harlequins) have some really big jackal threats such as Will Evans so it will be a focus going into Friday to make sure we get there (to the breakdown) early, and we are looking after the ball.”
Scrum-half Tom James believes Quins offer a different playing style to Exeter and is precautious about falling into their ‘trap’: “Harlequins offer a sort of different picture to Exeter but again they (Harlequins) are playing pretty well. It can be quite open (playing against Harlequins) but you can fall into a trap against them for being too loose, it’s about sticking to process and not getting caught in that loose battle.”
Northampton will be looking to repeat a bonus point win over the Quins as they did last season and retain their six-month undefeated home run this Friday at Cinch Stadium, kick-off at 7.45 pm.