The 2022/2023 English Premiership campaign was a mixed affair for Northampton Saints, with them putting on some good performances and sneaking a place in the season-ending play-offs, but also showing plenty of inconsistency and lacking an ability to put on a full 80-minute display.
Fast forward 12 months though, and the picture looks very different, with 2023/2024 being a lot more positive for them as they finished the regular season at the top of the table and have secured their place in this weekend’s play-off final, where they will face Bath at Twickenham Stadium.
It has been quite the turnaround for Phil Dowson’s side, with his team building on the foundations that they laid down last time out and making it incredibly difficult for opponents to get the better of them, and this tactical analysis will take a closer look at just why there is so much positivity around the East Midlands club at this moment in time.
Whenever watching Northampton play, what has always been prominent is their squads versatility, with it evident that they have a set starting shape but that they favour players in their ranks who can carry, tackle and finish chances off regardless of what position they are in.
There are many who have really epitomised that as the campaign has gone on and who deserve to be mentioned, with hooker Curtis Langdon and flanker Tom Pearson among them, but the player who has been arguably the most influential to their fortunes over the last year has been Ollie Sleightholme. In possession, there are not many who can do what he has done of late, with him showing speed and elegance and constantly giving his team a reliable try-scoring outlet whenever they have been looking to penetrate opposing lines.
As mentioned though, what Northampton like is players who are versatile, and Sleightholme has that in abundance through his ability to both break down the wing but also through the middle. In this case, the latter can be seen as he receives the ball and spots a gap ahead of him in the Bristol Bears lines, with neither James Williams nor his Bears midfield partner Benhard Janse van Rensburg able to halt him in his tracks.
Regardless of whether Northampton do win the final on Saturday afternoon or not, Sleightholme has been one of the league’s best players and has deserved the praise that has been aimed in his direction. He was very unlucky to miss out on the Player of the Season shortlist, and there is no doubting that Bath will have to work hard to limit his influence if they are to have any chance of keeping the Saints at bay.
Having players who can offer pace and power in different areas of the pitch means that Northampton have multiple ways of building attacks, with them known for their speed around the fringes when rucks form but they also have an ability to be more patient when the situation calls for it and to simply retain the ball as they look for a way through the opposing line.
Against Exeter Chiefs, the latter formed a major part of their game plan, with the Devon club also improving this season after a slightly drab 2022/2023 campaign and looking more secure whenever they don’t have possession. They also seem to have a stronger understanding of how to stop their opponents’ key weapons from being used against them, with them here setting up in a compact manner to limit Northampton’s ability to make quick breaks once the ball has been recycled on the ground.
As a result, the Saints have needed to resort to alternative ways of breaking the Chiefs down, and they opted here to focus on being expansive and on keeping their wingers as close to the sidelines as they could. This is shown here by Tom Seabrook, who joined from Gloucester last summer, not drifting infield and instead staying as wide as he can.
To ensure that Northampton don’t risk long passes and potential interceptions whilst shifting the ball in his direction, full-back George Hendy has slotted in to bridge the gap between Seabrook and the rest of the team, and that also allows the Saints to slow the play down at the crucial moment and to give the winger as much space as possible to make his run behind and to have a chance of scoring a try.
On this occasion, Exeter did manage to avert the danger through England winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso getting back across in time, but the point still stands that Northampton have developed different ways of testing their opponents and so have become a lot more unpredictable as time has gone by.
The role that Sleightholme has played in Northampton’s positive play has already been indicated in this analysis, but the player who allows him and so many others to be at their best is fly-half Fin Smith, and it is true to say that the Saints would not be operating at the level that they are now without him being in their team. Ever since joining them from Worcester Warriors, following the latter’s entry into administration, he has quickly established himself as the heartbeat of the team, with his ability to conduct the orchestra through kicking into space and finding gaps making it possible for so much of Northampton’s game plan to work.
However, it is not only his ability to create chances for those around him that has stood out, because his strong decision-making has also led to him gaining positive attention. In the derby match against Leicester Tigers, he realised that there was a need to not be too clever and to simply keep the scoreboard ticking over, and so moments like this when he opted to send the ball between the posts were key in his side emerging as the winners on the day.
Having a fly-half who has the maturity to stay composed in high-pressured situations that Smith has demonstrated countless times this season will always stand a team in good stead, and there is no doubting that he will be a key weapon for Northampton not only this weekend but in the future as they continue to build and to improve year on year.
All of the points raised in this scout report have been things that Northampton have done well for a period of time though, and what has really changed this season has been their defensive work. This is what largely let them down last season and led to their inconsistency, but they have appeared very well-drilled this time around and have developed new ways of preventing opposing sides from breaking them down too regularly.
Chief among that has been their desire to press from the front in a blitz-defence fashion, similar to England’s tactics, and to commit numbers to each tackle as they come about. The effect that that has had is highlighted here, with Newcastle Falcons utility back Tom Penny in possession but being forced backwards here by the combined power of Smith, former Falcons tighthead Trevor Davison and lock Alex Coles.
The unity that is on show here fits in with the identity that Northampton have sought to instil this season and which has been prominent throughout the analysis, with it constantly clear to see how players have worked together for the good of the team, and that is what has led to them being so tough to play against as each week has gone by. This is not to say that they are perfect, with Saracens exploiting the weakness that this defensive strategy does open up as they sent grubber kicks into spaces and gave their quicker backs opportunities to access the open territory ahead of them, but they have certainly been much more coherent as an overall package.
With all of this in mind, Northampton Saints have a really strong chance of getting their hands on the Premiership trophy at Twickenham, with them playing with confidence and cohesion at this moment in time. There is no doubt that Bath will be ferocious opponents for the Saints to negotiate, but many have the East Midlands side as the slight favourites heading into the match and it is not hard to see why. They are quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with once again, and the sky really is the limit as they continue to strive for success.