Northampton Saints ‘stood up’ defensively, according to Fraser Dingwall, as they limited Castres to just two scoring actions in their Investec Champions Cup opener.
The eight points the Top 14 visitors managed at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens was the lowest conceded by the men in Black, Green and Gold this season as the hosts triumphed 38-8.
Played out in blustery conditions as Storm Darragh wreaked havoc, Saints went in at the interval 14-3 ahead courtesy of Dingwall and Temo Mayanavanua tries.
Juarno Augustus, Curtis Langdon and Henry Pollock all crossed the line after the break with Castres’ solitary try coming with 12 minutes remaining.
“In the first half we were playing into it [the wind] and you have to bring your running game a lot more alive and initiate countering and finding ways to move the game up the pitch,” said Dingwall.
“The second half you go into the changing rooms and you don’t have to talk much about what has gone on, and more assess what we can then go and do with a bit more of a kick strategy implemented in the second half.
“It was pretty tough out there, I think the pleasing thing was, defensively we stood up to the test, they came down the tubes a little bit more and the forwards dealt with that really nicely.”
Fraser Dingwall
Saints march on to a first competitive match against South African opposition as the Bulls lie in wait in the second round of pool stage action on Saturday 14 December (kick-off: 1pm UK time).
The early weather forecast for the game does suggest there might be rainfall at at Loftus Versfeld, but temperatures will be touching 30 degrees – in stark contrast to the conditions in Northampton at the weekend.
“Pretoria is going to be the complete opposite,” said Dingwall. “It is an exciting opportunity. It is the first time any of us have gone out there with the Club. To go and play against the Bulls in a huge event, in a huge stadium, it just sets us up for a really exciting week and it is something we are very much looking forward to.
“It is going to start with the set piece battle, how aggressive we can be in the contact areas and then they have also got some dangerous backs. It's a massive challenge, but it is something we are really embracing and we are looking forward to getting stuck into.”
Bulls, who Saints defeated 59-22 at the Gardens at the quarter-final stage last season, are in desperate search of a victory after losing 27-5 to Saracens in Round 1.
But with a squad packed with Springbok stars such as Willie le Roux, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie and Marco van Staden, the test ahead for Phil Dowson’s side is likely to be a stern one in the Southern Hemisphere this weekend.
“We’ve got strong belief in ourselves,” said Dingwall. “If we get a strong performance on the pitch, then we can beat anyone.
‘We will be stripping it right back to the things we do really well. Yes, we will acknowledge their threats and acknowledge the areas they are strong in, that is something we can then cater for.
‘But ultimately it will be all around how we can go out there and give a good performance and then hopefully that gives us the outcome.”
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