Milestone man Emmanuel Iyogun believes Northampton Saints’ support at Allianz Stadium will be their 16th man in Saturday’s Gallagher PREM Final.
The long‑serving loosehead prop reached triple figures for appearances in the Home 45-31 PREM Play‑Off victory over Leicester Tigers — a result that earned the men in Black, Green and Gold the chance to compete for a second league title in three years, with Exeter Chiefs standing in their way in this weekend’s finale.
“Our supporters are going to be our 16th, or 24th man,” said the 25‑year‑old. “Support like that never goes unnoticed. You saw a glimpse of it here when we played Leicester, and it’s going to be on a much larger scale. I cannot wait.
It has been an emotional fortnight for the powerhouse forward, who is set to feature in his third major final in as many years for the Club. Just under six years on from becoming Saint #2029 as a 19‑year‑old, he led the team out at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens as he became the Club’s latest centurion in the most recent East Midlands Derby.
“It was amazing — and a bit nerve‑racking,” Iyogun admitted. “You get out there and think, where is everyone? I almost couldn’t have chosen a better game for it. A knock‑out game, against Tigers, at home, in front of a sold‑out crowd. It was made for the occasion. I’m extremely proud that the boys dug in and put out a performance that marked it properly.
“The games leading up to that put us in a great place to go and perform here. We got a bit of a dressing down against Leicester away, and I don’t think that could’ve put us in a better space — mentally and physically — to go and perform and get our own back.”
Big‑match experience could well play a key role in Saturday’s final. Of the 23‑man squad that defeated Tigers last time out, eight players — including Iyogun — featured in both the 2024/25 Investec Champions Cup Final and the 2023/24 Gallagher PREM Final.
Only six members of last Friday night’s squad did not feature in either of Saints’ most recent finals, with three of those being new recruits last summer, and it is something Iyogun believes could be a feather in Saints’ cap heading into a winner‑takes‑all contest.
“It’s huge,” he said. “Just in terms of boys playing in these games and not feeling like they’re on their own with how they feel — feeling overwhelmed, feeling scared of the occasion, or scared of making mistakes.
“We’re a team that, when we play, we play freely — but that depends on us not playing small. Sam [Vesty] talks about it all the time: playing big, making mistakes, putting that pass across, making that offload if it’s on. That’s what makes us great.
“And having people who have played in those big games to feed that message through to the younger players only makes us better on the big stage.”