It does not feel like a coincidence that the Prem’s first derby weekend of the season marks the return of most British & Irish Lions players and for Northampton it is a welcome boost indeed. Phil Dowson has Fin Smith, Henry Pollock, Alex Mitchell and Tommy Freeman back at his disposal as they seek to avenge last season’s 33-0 home drubbing at the hands of fierce rivals Leicester.
For Saturday’s game Dowson has selected Smith, Mitchell and Freeman to start while Pollock is named on the bench and across the league a number of other Lions return now that the mandatory rest period has ended. Marcus Smith starts for Harlequins against Saracens, who field Ben Earl from the start. Jamie George is on the bench but Maro Itoje is still considered “unavailable”. Bath are led by Finn Russell in their West Country encounter with Gloucester with Will Stuart also starting. Ellis Genge lines up for injury-hit Bristol against Exeter.
Northampton are far from the only club to be hit by injuries at this stage of the season but in their opening two matches they have been without the best part of a matchday 23. That they have picked up eight points to date in the circumstances is impressive but they have let a commanding lead slip against Exeter, ending up with a 33-33 draw, and very nearly did the same against Gloucester last time out.
The visit of Leicester has concentrated minds further. “[Last season’s defeat] has been mentioned,” says Dowson. “It left a very sour taste in a lot of people’s mouths, myself included. It’s something that we don’t want to repeat, we don’t want to be whitewashed at home and thoroughly embarrassed. Fair play to Leicester, they did a job on us and it actually scuppered a lot of our momentum going into the run-in. But it was also one of the defining moments of our season, after that our European run benefited from that in terms of what we learned.
“We’ve talked a little bit this week about the derby, how lucky we are to have Leicester on the doorstep to get stuck into twice a week. There’s loads of history, intensity and it’s a great occasion.”
That defeat came as the league resumed after its Six Nations pause. Freeman and Mitchell were rested, Pollock was on the bench but Smith was thrust straight back into action. As he says: “It was probably the fastest I’ve ever walked down the tunnel after a game. I just wanted to get away from it all. We let the place down, let each other down big time, so we won’t be looking to recreate that on Saturday. It was pretty embarrassing to be honest.”
As a result, Smith has an extra point to prove on Saturday. He has just signed a new Northampton contract, ending any speculation he could leave the club and become the poster boy of the R360 breakaway league. His performances on the Lions tour were about par but he was not able to challenge Russell for the starting Test fly-half position and will be determined to wrest England’s No 10 jersey back from George Ford.
That presents a bit of a headache for Dowson. He made no secret of the fact that he felt Northampton paid the price for the form of their internationals last season – England reaped the benefits and, in his eyes, Saints suffered as result. His Lions players are available again but, in less than a month, Steve Borthwick will be convening his England squad for the autumn internationals against Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Argentina.
It is a double-edged sword that Dowson must contend with. He wants his English stars realising their Test ambitions as well as performing for the club but they all, more or less, emerged at the same time and keeping them comes at a financial cost. Saracens went through a similar situation a while ago, Exeter more recently.
“It is a challenge because they’re playing really well, they’re high quality, highly talented, good lads who want to be successful so there’s a demand for them and therefore their price goes up, at the same time,” says Dowson. “They all come through together so it’s difficult, you’ve got to manage the budget.
“They’re also not stupid, they understand that it’s balancing up their ambitions from a career point of view, they want to play to win so they need to have a group around them that are capable, they want to play on the international stages so they need to be part of a group that’s being successful, and they want to be well reimbursed for what they’re doing and in an environment where they’re getting better. There are all these different factors that are a huge part of it.”
