Northampton Saints head to Bath Rugby in search of their first away victory over the West Country outfit in three seasons, and Emmanuel Iyogun knows that will be no small feat for his side to achieve.
The men in Black, Green and Gold sit third at Christmas in the Gallagher PREM table but are looking to rise the ranks as 2025 comes to a close, with a win at the Recreation Ground sure to propel them into the league’s top two.
And, for Iyogun, it is ensuring that Saints build on their impressive 47-21 victory over Sale Sharks last weekend that is the most important focus heading into Round 8.
“We challenged ourselves to go out early [against Sale],” said the loosehead prop.
“We spoke before the game about sticking in the fight and staying in the arm wrestle. I think we did that very well at the beginning of the game, and reaped the rewards of that with that 19-0 start.”
While Saints’ backs scored four of Northampton’s tries against Sale, it was the forwards who stole the limelight in the cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens clash – with Henry Pollock, Tom Pearson and Josh Kemeny all crossing the whitewash in some style.
And Northampton’s attacking prowess isn’t just limited to try-scoring, with the men in Black, Green and Gold leading the league for both carry metres and metres per carry, having recorded some 3,470 metres carried to date at an average of 4.2 metres per carry.
That attritional physicality is something Iyogun says Northampton have used to underpin their trademark running style, and are seeing the benefits of it with their recent run of form.
He said: “I think when people think about Saints, you think about running rugby, you think about free-flowing, champagne rugby. But you can’t avoid the brutality of the game at times and that showed against Sale.
“So, I think that perception of us only being that running team is false. We are, at times, very physical, and that’s something we want to hammer home when we perform.”
As Northampton’s focus shifts to league-leaders Bath Rugby for a post-Christmas match-up, Iyogun is relishing the chance to test himself against some of the country’s best players.
“Games like this are statement games,” Iyogun said of the encounter set for Saturday 27 December (kick-off: 5.30pm.).
“Bath away after Christmas is a big one, it’s the kind of game where you can put your marker down if you get things right. That’s definitely something that excites the group.
“It’s a big opportunity for us to go away and put together a good performance so we can roll into the New Year with some much-needed momentum.
“But Bath are a uniformed outfit. They’re drilled well, they tackle hard, they know how to move the ball up the pitch.
“We’ll be focused on us doing us, doing the things that have got us to the position we’re in. We’ll be physical, follow our gameplan, perform meticulously and see where that gets us.”