After a season largely dominated by injury frustration, Northampton Saints hooker Curtis Langdon says he is simply ‘hugely grateful’ to be preparing for a Gallagher PREM Final this weekend.
Having raced to 50 games in his first two seasons wearing the Black, Green and Gold, the 28-year-old has managed just seven outings in his third campaign for the club, making Saturday’s showdown with Exeter Chiefs at Allianz Stadium especially meaningful.
“I’ve not played much this season, and the lads have done a great job,” he said. “It’s been a real collective effort to get us to where we are now. The boys who take the field at the weekend, I just hope we put a good representation of the whole squad out there, and then we can all enjoy it together afterwards. I’m just hugely grateful to be part of this team.”
The England international’s journey back to fitness has been anything but smooth. A shoulder injury sidelined him for more than half the season, and just as he returned and rediscovered rhythm, a broken thumb in the Investec Champions Cup quarter-final at Bath halted his progress again.
“I don’t want to miss any games,” Langdon said. “I was really enjoying it, we’d started so fast at Bath, and then I broke my thumb and had to be out for another seven weeks. People have said I’ve timed it well coming back for the last round of the PREM, but the truth is I want to play every game.
“It’s felt like such a long season because I’ve been injured for a lot of it, but now I’m back playing, it feels like it’s gone so quick. I’m really excited about this weekend.
“Matchday is the best day of the week for me. I probably struggle to motivate myself in the week when my body’s sore, but the thought of playing at the weekend is what gets me through. Even through the injuries, that feeling of being out on the pitch with this group is what keeps me going.”
Watching from the stands, he admits, is far worse. “I’m a terrible watcher. Some of the games have been so close this year, and sitting there when you can’t do anything about it is very hard. I’d definitely rather play.”
Support at home has been crucial, too. His partner, now 21 weeks pregnant with their first child, has ridden the emotional waves of the season alongside him. “She’s been really good,” Langdon explained. “There have been some tough and frustrating months, and she’s probably found it hard as well because of the mood swings, but she’s hugely supportive. She was watching on her phone last weekend, and she can’t wait for this one.”
Experience, he believes, will matter on Saturday. From the starting line-up that faced Leicester Tigers in the home PREM Play-Off victory, only Josh Kemeny was not part of the wider squad that played senior rugby in the 2023/24 season, which culminated in Northampton lifting the league trophy for a second time.
“Looking back at the last time we won the PREM, we probably didn’t have as much experience in these big games,” he said. “Since then, we’ve played in quite a few knockout games, so this team is pretty experienced.
“The messaging this week has been really good – don’t play within yourself, don’t hold anything back, just go and throw yourself into it like we have all season. We’ve had good prep, and all the boys seem in a really good spot.”