With pre-season preparation for the Saints’ National League One campaign already underway Mallinder, together with coach Dorian West, has hit the ground running only a week after their England Saxons side defeated the New Zealand Maori to win the Churchill Cup.

And he’s feeling upbeat after his first few days in the job.

“It’s going well,” says Mallinder. “It’s busy, as expected, with plenty going on. The priority has been getting to meet everybody – the staff, management and players. Over the last few days we’ve had one-on-one meetings with all the players and are really pleased and enthusiastic about what they’ve been saying and what they’re hoping for the season.”

This is Mallinder’s first job in club rugby since he left Sale to join the RFU in 2004. He acknowledges that the challenge of the job is markedly different to that of being a coach in the national set-up, particularly in the day-to-day management of players and games coming thick and fast on a weekly basis. Nevertheless he’s relishing the opportunity and is not underestimating the task that the Saints will face in a competitive league in which standards are being raised year after year.

“I’m looking forward to the coaching,” he says. “We’re not going to start the rugby coaching for another three weeks. The players are in a conditioning phase at the moment so it’s good that the players are in early. It’s going to be a massive challenge for us this season. I’m looking forward to travelling to some of these clubs. I played at a lot of them when I started playing and I’m looking forward to going back there.

“The stands may not be massive but the support’s going to be there and I’d like to think that we’ll get some support from Northampton travelling to these places and following the team. That will be fantastic and help create the atmosphere which is what we want.”

Saints get put through their paces in Abington Park this week

With the first pre-season friendly being on August 19th and the National League One opener following on September 1st, Saints have given themselves plenty of time to get their preparation for the season right, something that Mallinder feels is extremely important if a return to the Premiership is to be achieved.

“The pre-season is going to be vital,” he says. “If you don’t do this conditioning this early then you never actually get it back. The lads have come in relatively early but for four weeks all they have to concentrate on is their conditioning. It’s vital for them and they will benefit from it, even if they are feeling tired and sore at the moment! Once we get into the season the benefits and the confidence that will come from that will be obvious.”