He may only be four days into his tenure at Franklin’s Gardens, but new Saints technical coaching consultant Alan Gaffney has seen plenty to be enthused about from the Northampton squad.
The Australian – a former coach at Munster, Leinster, and Saracens as well as the Ireland and Australia national teams – arrived in the midlands on New Year’s Day and has been working hard with the first team ever since in a bid to arrest a frustrating run of form.
Gloucester come to town on Saturday afternoon – kick-off 3pm at Franklin’s Gardens – and while being impressed by how well the side have been training, Gaffney has also been galvanised by the support of those in Black, Green and Gold since touching down on English soil.
“To the supporters, first of all, I’d like to thank them very much for their support,” he said.
“I’ve seen that irrespective of the results, the crowds and the supporters have been fantastic. I’d like to compliment them for that. And that’s one of the things that drew me when I was offered the job here.
“Going back to being involved with Leinster, playing here in 2000 against a Northampton side that were the European Champions at the time, it was a fascinating day to come here and just watch the crowd.
“But I think that they’ve just shown a lot of belief over a long period of time, so please keep that belief and please keep that support because I think it won’t be that long.
“Once the players turn it and once they play with the confidence we believe they can play with, hopefully it will be very positive and we’ll get some good results.”
Tickets are still available for the Gloucester match at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday 6th January, starting from £28 (adults) and £12 (juniors). Visit bit.ly/SAI-GLO-201718 to book online or call the Saints Ticket Office on 01604 581000.
Hear the rest of Gaffney's interview here...
💬 "You have believed in the team for a long time - please keep that belief. Things will turn and when the team get their confidence back I'm convinced the results will be positive."
In a first chat since arriving in the Shire, Alan Gaffney had a message for the Saints faithful pic.twitter.com/Pb6QlvLQQQ— Northampton Saints (@SaintsRugby) January 2, 2018
