As one of only three members of the last Northampton Saints starting XV to beat Bristol Bears away who remain with the Club, Fraser Dingwall is well placed to size up the challenge of winning away at Ashton Gate.
That is the challenge ahead of the men in Black, Green and Gold this weekend, as they seek to snap a five-game winless run in Bear territory and back-up their opening round victory over Newcastle Red Bulls with a win on the road this Saturday afternoon (kick-off: 3.05pm).
“It has been somewhere we haven’t managed to pick up a result over the last five years,” said Dingwall, who started at inside centre in the 20-36 victory in November 2021, alongside Alex Mitchell and Tommy Freeman. “It is an exciting challenge for us. This group, especially as it is the first away game, this season, there is a lot of narrative we can build around going away from home, going to a place we haven’t won much, and get really excited about the challenge and opportunity to do something that the group hasn’t done for a while.”
It will be Dingwall’s first taste of this encounter in the South West since the 2023/24 season, with some of Saints’ recent visits to Ashton Gate coinciding with periods where international players were not abundantly available for selection.
The 27-year-old explained: “We have had a lot of games there [against Bristol] around the international fixtures where we haven’t necessarily had everyone playing.
“We are really excited. It's not something we have actually marked out, it came about this week, each week there is always a big challenge and the one we have got this week is going somewhere we haven’t been able to win for a while. A tough place to go, not many teams go there and win. It is set up to be a good challenge.”
Dingwall’s last taste of playing Bears was the record-breaking 94-33 victory at DPD Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens earlier this year; a result that will boost the confidence of the travelling side but has also been a publicly-shared source of motivation for the hosts.
“It was part of the storyline to this game,” Dingwall admitted. “The last time we played them we gave them a heavy beating so I am sure that is something they will want to correct and get after.
Dingwall led Saints out for the first time as Club captain at DPD Stadium last weekend against Newcastle Red Bulls, as Northampton commenced their title defence with a 59-26 success in front of a sold-out crowd.
“I thought we did some really good stuff,” he said. “It was a great starting point, there was a lot of the stuff we wanted to do was on the pitch. There’s still growth in our game, a lot of stuff around our set piece, strike play, can have improvements, but it was a great starting point. To hit the ground running, feeling fairly well aligned, feeling fairly connected as a group was a really good spot.
“Especially against a side that was a bit of an unknown quantity. Where we didn’t really know what position they would be in considering they are going through a massive transition, they are definitely much stronger than they have been and they are going to be a challenging side the more time they spend together. It was a really pleasing start.”