Archie Benson heralded the atmosphere at a sold-out cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens as ‘unreal’ as Northampton Saints defeated East Midlands rivals Leicester Tigers on Saturday.
The back row, 23, was part of a youthful Saints side that took to the field with just an average of 21 and rose to the challenge to secure a 40-22 PREM Rugby Cup victory.
Saints’ third win in the competition takes them into third in Pool B and saw them claim this season’s fastest try bonus point as Archie McParland (2), Amena Caqusau and James Martin all crossed inside 32 minutes of kick-off.
“It’s so exciting when you run out here at cinch Stadium, and everyone’s screaming and singing,” said Benson, who made his 11th Saints appearance in the win.
“It’s unreal to be playing in a PREM Cup block and a packed-out crowd. Having a full crowd is so good.
Henry Walker and the mightily impressive James Pater added second-half tries as Saints blew their old rivals away to secure maximum points.
Despite being only two years above that youthful average age for the fixture, Benson was one of the more experienced campaigners on the pitch for the men in Black, Green and Gold on Saturday, having made his debut for the Club in this competition in a victory over Nottingham in November 2024.
“This PREM Cup block is such an opportunity and so exciting for young lads to pull on a Saints shirt,” Benson added.
“We’ve got three debutants there and a first start for Cleopas. Especially getting a result like we did, it’s nice to have two decent teams out on the pitch. Leicester brought lads with first-team experience.
“The way we have our systems set up, once we have front-foot ball, our backs make it look so easy out wide. The likes of young James Pater at 10, fair play to him doing well and then the wingers running in tries too.”