Callum Chick is embracing a ‘refreshing’ shift of focus this weekend as Northampton Saints commence their Investec Champions Cup campaign at home against Cardiff.
Last time Saints entered a European campaign as reigning Gallagher PREM Champions, they made it all the way to the final of the competition, a feat they will be looking to repeat this year, starting with Sunday’s opener against their Welsh visitors (kick-off: 5.30pm).
“In the past few years, we’ve gone quite deep into the tournament,” Chick said. “It’s an opportunity to play new teams, play in new places and take that all on board and enjoy it because you don’t always get those opportunities.
“It’s a change of competition for us. Dows likes to speak about the journey we get to go on in the Champions Cup.
“Being at home and playing against Cardiff, who are going pretty well in the URC, hopefully we can get a big five points, but we won’t really look at the outcome because we’re very much performance-based.
“Something we always speak about is that it doesn’t really matter who turns up here or when we go away, who we’re playing against.
“Obviously, we’ll look at their trends and what they like to do, but it’s very much about how we can get our game on the field, how we can play fast, how we can put our game on them. If we do that, they’ll be struggling.”
Saints start their new European season sitting second in the domestic Gallagher PREM table and hot off the back of an impressive 71-48 victory over Bath at DPD Stadium last weekend, and will look to continue that form in a competition that has yielded special memories for the squad in recent years.
“It’s a hugely special competition,” Chick continued. “Before coming here, being at Newcastle, we didn’t get a huge amount of opportunities to play in special occasions like this. I played Toulon and Montpellier while I was at Newcastle, and the build-up and playing in those matches was incredible.
“Getting the opportunity now and going into this competition is refreshing. We can really go and enjoy it and just get stuck in.
“It’s an odd setup this year with one Champions Cup game now and then waiting until December, but it’s a nice little refresh. We get out of PREM for a week and play against opposition we don’t usually play against. Hopefully, it’s the start of a long European campaign.”
Sunday’s opponents travel to the East Midlands for the first time since a 23-15 encounter in 2010, a game in which Saints Director of Rugby Phil Dowson, started as a player. Cardiff currently sit sixth in the United Rugby Championship, and Chick explained that the men in Black, Green and Gold are ready for a physical encounter.
He added: “Teams are now looking to throw the ball around, get tries and bonus points, etc. But we know Welsh teams, at their core, are going to be physical, and they’re going to have a set-piece game.
“We can’t move away from the core of the game, especially as a forward group. We have to make sure our set piece is right, and it’s a contact sport, so you have to get that right to give yourself an opportunity to win.”