The Saints host Saracens at stadiummk this coming Saturday, in a match that is doubling up as part of England Rugby 2015’s testing programme ahead of the Rugby World Cup. With two days to go before the ‘Best of English’ clash between the Aviva Premiership’s first and second placed teams already a venue attendance record is guaranteed, with a limited number of tickets remaining on sale.
The Saints have also played in The Big Game at Twickenham already this campaign, and Dickens says that the large crowds now regularly seen across England are indicative of the health of the sport. And after having experienced the vibrancy of Stade Marcel Michelin three weeks ago, he believes that the Saints’ supporters can make stadiummk a cauldron of noise come Saturday afternoon, especially with the club handing out a special free ‘clapper’ on every seat.
“I think we’ve got a great product in the game of rugby,” he says in this week’s official Saints podcast. “It’s something I’ve been brought up with and been involved with since the age of six. In terms of rugby union as a whole, it’s much more in the sporting eye in the media. That does come from the product on the pitch; we’ve got some quality players in the Aviva Premiership and we’ve got some quality players playing for England.
“Those big occasions are only made by the fans. Remembering back to the Clermont game, we went there the day before and everything’s in yellow, they have ‘Yellow Army’ written everywhere. They managed to recreate that in Saint-Étienne last week too, which is 90 miles away from Clermont. It’s a phenomenal experience.
“I’ve got no doubt that our supporters will be [at stadiummk] and they’ll be in full voice. The game against Wasps here was mentioned in the media as being loud and that’s exactly what we want from our supporters. We want them to feel a part of the game, get involved and fully be a part of what we do at Northampton Saints.”
The full interview with Alan Dickens is available for FREE on any device at www.soundcloud.com/official-saints-rugby or by searching for ‘Northampton Saints’ on iTunes.
A limited number of tickets remain available for Saints versus Saracens at www.northamptonsaints.co.uk/buytickets or www.ticketmaster.co.uk/RoadTo2015
