While you won’t find the image hanging on a wall at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, the moment Fraser Dingwall consoled his fly-half Fin Smith – whose shirt had been pulled over to briefly conceal his crestfallen face following the 2023/24 semi-final loss to Leinster at Croke Park – is somewhat iconic.
The men in Black, Green and Gold had fallen agonisingly short of progressing to the Investec Champions Cup Final, and the pain was there for all to see on their then‑21‑year‑old fly-half. Dingwall, while just three years Smith’s senior, was there to support his teammate, who was experiencing a setback of that gravitas for the first time.
But a month later, the talented English duo were wearing ski masks and spraying champagne with gleeful abandon. Dublin despair had been replaced by a Twickenham triumph as Northampton Saints were crowned champions of England.
In the aftermath of Friday night’s 43-41 Investec Champions Cup quarter-final loss to Bath, 27‑year‑old Dingwall was adamant that the painful loss at the Recreation Ground will serve as a similar learning experience to propel his side to glory the next time they are tasked with knockout rugby.
“It has to, otherwise that game counts for nothing,” said Dingwall, who scored the 31st try of his Northampton career on Friday night. “You have to use that as fuel for the rest of the season and as a massive learning base. All these occasions can be so valuable if you pick them and take what you can from them.
Saints’ European adventure is over for another year, but their season is far from over. With half a dozen rounds remaining, they are leading the way in the Gallagher PREM, losing only one of their 12 games to date.
Phil Dowson’s side are in pole position to be competing in the end‑of‑season play-offs for a third time in four seasons. Dingwall, who played in all of those previous domestic knockout occasions, hopes the setback in Somerset will serve him and his teammates well as they steam into the final third of the domestic campaign.
He said: “These experiences where you’re in knockout games and you only get one chance at it, where it goes really well and then it doesn’t necessarily go that well in the end, they become really valuable if you take learnings from them and look to grow from them.
“I cast my mind back a couple of years ago when we lost to Leinster in the semi-final and said we were actually really grateful for that game for the same reasons, because that group now has experienced a game that has massive swings of momentum and an experience they can learn from around how to win those occasions.”