The journey down the M1 from Leicester to Northampton may be relatively short, but certainly for rugby players it is a road less travelled given the fierce rivalry between the two giants of English rugby.
But new Saint Dom Barrow has hit the ground running after ending last season at French side La Rochelle and arriving at Franklin’s Gardens a month ago.
The towering lock is no stranger to the hard graft of Premiership preseasons and is confident the squad are preparing well ahead of their first friendly fixture at Ospreys on 11 August.
“We’re getting stuck in,” said the 25-year-old, who also enjoyed stints at Yorkshire Carnegie and Newcastle Falcons before moving to Tigers.
"It feels like a fresh start; everyone’s digging in, putting the hard yards in at this stage to reap the rewards a bit further on in the season. "
Dom Barrow
“It’s a lot of fitness and weights at this time of year but we’ve got a really good group of boys. There’s a great buzz in the camp so it’s really exciting.”
Arriving at Saints after a summer of change in Northampton, Barrow says that there is plenty of enthusiasm within the squad and that the desire to work hard has started early.
He added: “I’ve got no idea what’s gone on here previously but it certainly feels like there’s a lot of optimism around the camp. It feels like a fresh start; everyone’s digging in, putting the hard yards in at this stage to reap the rewards a bit further on in the season.
“I’m just looking forward to getting started to be honest. We’ve got a new group of coaches, very positive coaches, who want to play a really exciting and attractive brand of rugby which I think will suit the demographic of the squad that we’ve got.
“So, everyone’s raring to go and there’s a good buzz in the camp. We just want to see where we’re at.”
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Hear more from Barrow about his first few weeks at the Club here…
