Northampton Saints kicked off their competitive season with a 34-49 victory over Saracens in the PREM Rugby Cup, and director of rugby Phil Dowson was pleased with the efforts his side showed in starting their campaign with a win on the road.
The men in Black, Green and Gold struggled to find their away form last term – winning just five times away from cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens across all competitions – but Saints ran in seven tries to Saracens’ five at the StoneX Stadium to claim an opening day victory.
A first-half hat-trick for captain Callum Chick as well as a debut try for JJ Van Der Mescht kept Saints in the fight in the first half, before Craig Wright crossed after the interval and James Ramm grabbed a brace to seal the game.
“It was a very good start,” Dowson said of Saints’ first competitive win.
“We spoke earlier in the week about there still being an element of pre-season about it, trying to manage minutes with people, like Trevor Davison, coming back in and not overplaying people, but, on the whole, the performance was still very good.
“There are clearly things we still need to work on, but we’re very happy with it.
“There’s no such thing as the perfect performance; there are loads of things we can be better at, but it’s a great experience for some of our young guys to come here and get the win.”
Phil Dowson, director of rugby
“I’m delighted for Chick as well, in his first outing as captain, to get a hat-trick and a win is a pretty good experience all round, and we’ll take loads from that into next week.”
Chick – who took on the captain’s armband on his debut on Friday night – started the scoring for Northampton at the StoneX, rumbling over from the back of a powerful maul after just four minutes.
The No. 8 would add two more before the interval, with his hat-trick of tries sandwiching a first Saints score for fellow debutant Van Der Mescht.
“He had a huge impact on the game,” Dowson explained about the 26-year-old second rower.
“Both at set pieces and carrying the ball, he was good. We’ll continue to work with him to make sure we get him in the game as much as possible. JJ’s first outing in a Saints shirt has been excellent, and we look forward to many more.”
Another summer signing who impressed in his first competitive outing was fly-half Anthony Belleau, who went 100% from the kicking tee at the StoneX as he added 14 points to Saints’ haul with all seven conversions.
On the French international’s performance, Dowson added: “I thought he played very well. I thought he kicked particularly well, and he got a turnover at the end of the game, which shows how tenacious and tough he is as well.
“There’s obviously stuff he needs to work on from an organisational point of view and how we play the game, which he’s still adapting to. It’s a tough position to play, particularly in your second language, but he’s coming on leaps and bounds every week and overall we’re delighted with his performance.”
For Dowson’s side attention now turns to the approach of the Gallagher PREM and Saints’ opening league fixture of the season when Northampton host Exeter Chiefs on Sunday (28 September, kick-off: 1pm).
It will mark the first time the men in Black, Green and Gold have begun their PREM campaign on home soil since 2021 and with last season’s clash between the two sides separated by less than a score, Dowson is already looking forward to the match up.
He said: “The playing group have worked incredibly hard.
“They’re incredibly close and connected already, with lots of new people stepping in. I’m excited about where we can go because, as good as we were today, it’s never perfect and I think there’s lots of room for improvement.
“We’ve not had a home game this pre-season so we’re looking forward to a full house next Sunday.”
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