LEINSTER FANS MIGHT still be struggling to see the likeable side of this Northampton team, but the English club have won over plenty of new supporters on their march into the Champions Cup final.
This weekend’s decider in Cardiff features two teams who will each have their fair share of neutral favour. Bordeaux are newcomers to the scene too, but Saints’ against-the-odds win away to Leinster means they will have lots of people rooting for them.
It helps that reigning Premiership champions Northampton play an attractive style of rugby.
The fact that they’re not moneybags throwing the cash at big-name signings adds to the appeal. Their place in this Champions Cup final stems back to 2018 when the Saints’ rebuild began.
Before that, Northampton had endured three seasons of mediocrity. They were a mid-table team in England and didn’t have a clear identity. The Heineken Cup success in 2000 was a distant memory. The joy of their 2014 Premiership title had quickly faded.
Saints turned to Kiwi director of rugby Chris Boyd in the summer of 2018, asking him to lead a revolution that would focus on bringing players through from the Northampton academy, adding smart signings, and playing an exciting brand of rugby.
Alex Mitchell and Tommy Freeman, both now Lions, are among the homegrown crop to have pushed through, along with the likes of England internationals George Furbank, Ollie Sleightholme, Alex Coles, and Fraser Dingwall.
Tom Litchfield and Emmanuel Iyogun are among those to have followed from the Saints pathway, while the outstanding Henry Pollock – now a Lion at the age of 20 – is the most recent example of the production line.
Chris Boyd has consulted for Munster this season. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Along the way, Northampton have added intelligent signings like Fin Smith – who arrived from Worcester when they folded in 2022 – Curtis Langdon, Juarno Augustus, and James Ramm.
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It took a while for Boyd’s impact to tell on the pitch but Northampton got to the Premiership play-offs in 2019/20, his second season, and re-established themselves as contenders domestically.
It was still a struggle in Europe. Up until last season, they couldn’t buy a win in the Champions Cup. In fact, Saints lost all 10 of their pool matches in the three campaigns before last season, when they were beaten by Leinster in the semi-finals at Croke Park.
All the while, Boyd was guiding the next generation of Saints coaches.
Current director of rugby Phil Dowson was a legendary player for Northampton and had already moved into coaching when Boyd arrived. Suddenly, Dowson had an ideal mentor. Luring the highly-rated attack specialist Sam Vesty from Worcester at the same time Boyd joined was an inspired move by Northampton.
When Boyd moved back to New Zealand in 2022, Dowson became director of rugby and Vesty was promoted to head coach. They added former rugby league player Lee Radford as defence coach in 2023, while former Saints lock James Craig is their lineout coach and Matt Ferguson oversees the scrum.
As was clear during the win over Leinster recently, this is a group of coaches who get on well and enjoy their work. Their energy and creativity have been infectious among the playing squad.
Northampton’s project has been rewarded with a Premiership title last season and though they have struggled to back that up domestically this time around, they’ve made obvious progress by reaching the Champions Cup final.
Tommy Freeman and Henry Pollock after beating Leinster. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
And their decision to back academy products has also been vindicated by Mitchell, Freeman, and Pollock being named in the Lions squad along with Smith, who was still only 20 when he joined from Worcester.
Leinster are the only team to have provided more players to Andy Farrell’s Lions squad with 12, while Glasgow have also contributed four players.
Regardless of what happens this weekend in Cardiff, the Saints quartet will travel to Australia with high hopes of being integrally involved in Farrell’s plans to take down the Wallabies. There’s a good chance that at least a couple of them could be stars of the tour.
24-year-old Freeman is the current favourite to start on the right wing when the Tests roll around. His athleticism makes him a thrill to watch. 6ft 3ins Freeman is strong in the air and powerful in contact, but moves well too. His ability to play outside centre highlights good decision-making skills.
23-year-old out-half Smith is fancied by many to become the main man at number 10, even if he is less experienced than Scotland’s Finn Russell and his England team-mate, Marcus Smith, who is also being viewed as a fullback option.
Despite his youth, Fin Smith appears to have the most complete skillset of the trio. He passes and kicks with class, can break the line himself, is a superb tackler, and appears to have tactical maturity beyond his years. The 23-year-old seems to have an old head on young shoulders, no doubt helped by having some tough experiences as Worcester out-half in the Premiership when he was still a teenager.
20-year-old Pollock is on a stunning upward trajectory and though there seems to be lots of discussion about how his confidence makes him dislikeable, he is certainly winning people over with his performances. His celebrations annoy some fans but it’s different when a player like Pollock is on your team. He could be a real breakout star for the Lions, even if back row competition will be fierce.
Jamison Gibson-Park looks set to be number one in the scrum-half pecking order but 27-year-old Mitchell will be pushing for a prominent role in the Tests. He started this year’s Six Nations with a poor defensive showing against Ireland but grew into the championship and has been superb for Northampton since.
Fin Smith and Alex Mitchell. Juan Gasparini / INPHO
Juan Gasparini / INPHO / INPHO
His probing work close to the breakdown makes him a major threat, he has a smart kicking game, loves exploring the shortside, and brings a similarly high tempo to Gibson-Park. There are plenty of similarities between the pair.
Tomos Williams is the other scrum-half in the Lions squad, but Mitchell has a great chance of Test involvement.
The English rugby media will tell you that Northampton are one of the best clubs to deal with and these four Lions players are a reflection of that. They come across well in interviews or on social media.
Combine that likeability with their undoubted rugby-playing skills and there is every chance they will become popular figures on this Lions adventure.
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Northampton's likely lads could become stars of the Lions tour
LEINSTER FANS MIGHT still be struggling to see the likeable side of this Northampton team, but the English club have won over plenty of new supporters on their march into the Champions Cup final.
This weekend’s decider in Cardiff features two teams who will each have their fair share of neutral favour. Bordeaux are newcomers to the scene too, but Saints’ against-the-odds win away to Leinster means they will have lots of people rooting for them.
It helps that reigning Premiership champions Northampton play an attractive style of rugby.
The fact that they’re not moneybags throwing the cash at big-name signings adds to the appeal. Their place in this Champions Cup final stems back to 2018 when the Saints’ rebuild began.
Before that, Northampton had endured three seasons of mediocrity. They were a mid-table team in England and didn’t have a clear identity. The Heineken Cup success in 2000 was a distant memory. The joy of their 2014 Premiership title had quickly faded.
Saints turned to Kiwi director of rugby Chris Boyd in the summer of 2018, asking him to lead a revolution that would focus on bringing players through from the Northampton academy, adding smart signings, and playing an exciting brand of rugby.
Alex Mitchell and Tommy Freeman, both now Lions, are among the homegrown crop to have pushed through, along with the likes of England internationals George Furbank, Ollie Sleightholme, Alex Coles, and Fraser Dingwall.
Tom Litchfield and Emmanuel Iyogun are among those to have followed from the Saints pathway, while the outstanding Henry Pollock – now a Lion at the age of 20 – is the most recent example of the production line.
Along the way, Northampton have added intelligent signings like Fin Smith – who arrived from Worcester when they folded in 2022 – Curtis Langdon, Juarno Augustus, and James Ramm.
It took a while for Boyd’s impact to tell on the pitch but Northampton got to the Premiership play-offs in 2019/20, his second season, and re-established themselves as contenders domestically.
It was still a struggle in Europe. Up until last season, they couldn’t buy a win in the Champions Cup. In fact, Saints lost all 10 of their pool matches in the three campaigns before last season, when they were beaten by Leinster in the semi-finals at Croke Park.
All the while, Boyd was guiding the next generation of Saints coaches.
Current director of rugby Phil Dowson was a legendary player for Northampton and had already moved into coaching when Boyd arrived. Suddenly, Dowson had an ideal mentor. Luring the highly-rated attack specialist Sam Vesty from Worcester at the same time Boyd joined was an inspired move by Northampton.
When Boyd moved back to New Zealand in 2022, Dowson became director of rugby and Vesty was promoted to head coach. They added former rugby league player Lee Radford as defence coach in 2023, while former Saints lock James Craig is their lineout coach and Matt Ferguson oversees the scrum.
As was clear during the win over Leinster recently, this is a group of coaches who get on well and enjoy their work. Their energy and creativity have been infectious among the playing squad.
Northampton’s project has been rewarded with a Premiership title last season and though they have struggled to back that up domestically this time around, they’ve made obvious progress by reaching the Champions Cup final.
And their decision to back academy products has also been vindicated by Mitchell, Freeman, and Pollock being named in the Lions squad along with Smith, who was still only 20 when he joined from Worcester.
Leinster are the only team to have provided more players to Andy Farrell’s Lions squad with 12, while Glasgow have also contributed four players.
Regardless of what happens this weekend in Cardiff, the Saints quartet will travel to Australia with high hopes of being integrally involved in Farrell’s plans to take down the Wallabies. There’s a good chance that at least a couple of them could be stars of the tour.
24-year-old Freeman is the current favourite to start on the right wing when the Tests roll around. His athleticism makes him a thrill to watch. 6ft 3ins Freeman is strong in the air and powerful in contact, but moves well too. His ability to play outside centre highlights good decision-making skills.
23-year-old out-half Smith is fancied by many to become the main man at number 10, even if he is less experienced than Scotland’s Finn Russell and his England team-mate, Marcus Smith, who is also being viewed as a fullback option.
Despite his youth, Fin Smith appears to have the most complete skillset of the trio. He passes and kicks with class, can break the line himself, is a superb tackler, and appears to have tactical maturity beyond his years. The 23-year-old seems to have an old head on young shoulders, no doubt helped by having some tough experiences as Worcester out-half in the Premiership when he was still a teenager.
20-year-old Pollock is on a stunning upward trajectory and though there seems to be lots of discussion about how his confidence makes him dislikeable, he is certainly winning people over with his performances. His celebrations annoy some fans but it’s different when a player like Pollock is on your team. He could be a real breakout star for the Lions, even if back row competition will be fierce.
Jamison Gibson-Park looks set to be number one in the scrum-half pecking order but 27-year-old Mitchell will be pushing for a prominent role in the Tests. He started this year’s Six Nations with a poor defensive showing against Ireland but grew into the championship and has been superb for Northampton since.
His probing work close to the breakdown makes him a major threat, he has a smart kicking game, loves exploring the shortside, and brings a similarly high tempo to Gibson-Park. There are plenty of similarities between the pair.
Tomos Williams is the other scrum-half in the Lions squad, but Mitchell has a great chance of Test involvement.
The English rugby media will tell you that Northampton are one of the best clubs to deal with and these four Lions players are a reflection of that. They come across well in interviews or on social media.
Combine that likeability with their undoubted rugby-playing skills and there is every chance they will become popular figures on this Lions adventure.
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Alex Mitchell Fin Smith henry pollock saints