Smith: Next three games most important of my career so far

Northampton Saints will be doing their utmost to ensure they will be at their sharpest for the final games of the season, according to fly-half Fin Smith.

The men in Black, Green & Gold ensured they will go into their last three Gallagher Premiership fixtures with their play-off fate in their own hands following last Friday’s 45-26 victory over Bath.

The result allowed them to remain fourth in the table in what is one of the tightest races towards the semi-finals ever.

With a free weekend coming up, Saints now have two weeks to prepare for their next match against London Irish, the team directly below them in the standings, before they round off the regular season against Saracens and Newcastle Falcons in April.

Smith said: “Unfortunately we’re out of Europe, but looking on the bright side we’ve got a little bit more time where we haven’t got games over the next few weeks to sharpen the axe and make sure we’re firing, and we can attack these next three games head-on.

Smith feels Saints gave a far better representation of themselves against Bath after putting the disappointment of their record Premiership defeat, against Bristol Bears last week, behind them.

The 20-year-old came away with a personal haul of 15 points as he converted all six of his team’s tries at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens and kicked one penalty for good measure.

Smith said: “It was good just to confirm in our minds that the team that played last week wasn’t really us. The team that’s been winning games and playing attacking rugby is us.

“It wasn’t a nice week, it was pretty dark viewing on Monday, going through the Bristol game as a group and there were some anxious and tense feelings all week after a result like that.

“You start doubting stuff a little bit, but getting over the line against Bath was massive.

What was also pleasing about the performance against Bath was how they adapted to the cold and damp conditions, with three of their tries coming from driving mauls following line-outs.

Robbie Smith rumbled over twice and back rower Angus Scott-Young also struck from close range, while the pack as a whole got themselves on top at scrum time against visitors who pride themselves on their forward power.

“I think something we maybe unfairly get associated with is that we’re a really good attacking team, but when things get tough, we might not be able to front up,” Smith added.

“To be honest, that’s probably a fair assessment of what happened last week, so we’ve proven to ourselves we can be physical, we can be gritty and push through the tough moments.

“Just before half-time, when we had a yellow card [for Paul Hill], we dogged that out and kept them out.

“All those little moments just builds character in the group, builds togetherness and builds the trust.”