Northampton have made it to the final on every front they have been involved in at senior level this season, but the next eight days will define success or failure. Competing at the top is no longer enough for Saints, who face Bath in the final of the Amlin Cup on Friday in Cardiff before taking on Saracens for the Premiership title next week.
Northampton lost to Exeter in the LV Cup final in March and also reached the “A” league final, but their director of rugby Jim Mallinder, the longest-serving in the Premiership, has his focus on bigger prizes with Saints the only one of the top four in the league this season yet to win the title.
“I won’t say this should be our year, but it can be,” Mallinder said. “We have the smallest squad in the Premiership but we have a group of very good, committed players with a number of young academy lads coming through and the latter have been key in helping us to progress.”
Mallinder has had to factor next week’s Premiership final into his selection for Bath. Last week’s semi-final against Leicester was a typically hard, bruising encounter between two closely matched rivals. “I am glad we are in the Amlin final, not just because it is an opportunity to win a trophy but for the continuity it provides. We just had to make sure when picking the side that everyone was physically and mentally right. Bath are a very good side and we will have to be at our best.”
Northampton did not spend too much time celebrating their victory against Leicester, the first time they had downed their east Midlands rivals for nearly four years. Like Saracens, they are in pursuit of a league and European double and it has been a normal training week. Mallinder has made five changes from the side who started against Leicester, including two at prop where the Lion Alex Corbisiero returns and Tom Mercey replaces the suspended Salesi Ma’afu. But the England hooker Dylan Harley has failed to recover from a shoulder injury and is now a serious doubt for England’s tour of New Zealand.
“We did a lap of honour after the Leicester match to say thank you to our supporters for the whole season and we sang a few songs in the dressing room but then it was a case of job done and on to the next one,” said the No8, Sam Dickinson. “We have had a good season so far but we have not won anything yet. Bath had last week off and maybe they will be fresher but I like to keep playing.”
The final gives Bath the opportunity to go some way to making up for missing out on the Premiership play-offs. After being in the top four for most of the season, they stuttered at the end, drawing at home to Northampton and then losing at Harlequins to finish fifth behind Quins, level on points but having won fewer matches.
“We gave the players a few days off after Harlequins to sulk,” said the Bath head coach, Mike Ford. “When we came back we talked about that game for a few minutes, but then quickly moved on to how we could make the most of our season. I am glad we have the Amlin final to look forward to otherwise we would have had the whole summer to dwell on the Quins game.
“The physically sapping match Northampton had with Leicester last week has to be good for us. In today’s game, 10 days is about what you need for players to recover and coaches to do preparation, but we are not falling into the trap of listening to Northampton saying they have one eye on next week’s final at Twickenham. They have a strong squad and any team they field is tough to beat.”
The final at the Arms Park means a return to his homeland for the Wales prop Paul James. “We have put in a huge amount of work this season and made a number of sacrifices,” he said. “To finish with nothing would be a bitter disappointment. A reason I joined the club (from Ospreys) was to win trophies and we have to dust ourselves down after Harlequins and go into the final with our heads held high.”
Ford is not happy with the artificial surface at the Arms Park, saying it increases the risk of injury, but it should suit Bath’s quick-tempo game. George Ford will play at fly-half before having surgery on his shoulder while the South Africa flanker Francois Louw, who has not played since the end of March, is back from injury. Kyle Eastmond, a contender at centre for England’s first Test against New Zealand next month, is still unfit.
