Northampton have made a name for themselves as English rugby’s greatest entertainers. The Saints have climbed to the top of the Premiership table, playing some of the most attractive rugby in the league with ambition and audacity. This weekend the fight will continue on the second front; A Champions Cup quarter-final against the Bulls and, who knows, a potential semi-final against Leinster or La Rochelle.
Director of rugby Phil Dowson is a shrewd, rational mind who has taken Northampton to new heights, but the genius behind the dazzling attack is head coach Sam Vesty. Vesty, who was predominantly a fly-half or full-back during his playing days at Leicester and Bath, left Worcester to join Northampton as scrum coach in 2018 before making the move four years later with the departure of former director of rugby Chris Boyd.
Vesty may have been the ringmaster of the Northampton circus, but under his and Dowson’s direction sand and steel were also developed. Vesty describes this as “rigidity.” Playing heads-up rugby can be coached, but not Midland courage. That’s why, despite the Saints’ stylish modus operandi, Vesty still has time for a quicker approach.
“There is a beauty in winning in different ways,” Vesty told Telegraph Sport. “You can be a strong team and pass through the middle. Having a variety of ways to win is good for the game. But I think the whole game is getting better and better [moving the ball]. The more I’ve watched rugby lately (probably since the World Cup), I’d say the more teams are opening and taking a few more risks. South African teams have historically had a reputation for kicking and chasing, these guys move the ball into space incredibly well and counter attack fantastically. They open the game. The more I watch French sides, there’s more to it than that.
“Are referees now being told that we want a faster game? The way refereeing is to increase the time the ball stays in play. Everyone wants the game to progress faster and that’s the way things are going. People are getting on board.
“A good example of this is Finn Russell going to Bath. Suddenly the game opens up. Their attitude towards risk has changed.
“I think people are starting to understand that we want to put the bums in the seats and inspire people to play our beautiful game.”
Vesty’s impressive rugby acumen and infectious enthusiasm for the sport are starting to make waves outside his native East Midlands. The 42-year-old took the reins of England in February. He imparted his wisdom to the country’s most promising players in a scrum against Portugal. The morality that is the secret of the success of the saints is simple.
“A lot of people talk about the attacking style, but we have our own shape to get out of this situation as quickly as possible,” he says. “We are in shape to disrupt the structure of the defense. When the structure of the defense is disrupted, we play whatever is in front of us.
“When I started I was very form-oriented and the more I coached the further I moved away from that. Watching Toulouse play, comparing the French attack and its qualities to the Irish attack, which have different qualities but are very effective in their own way. Those would be two magnificent attacks that I admire immensely. Our attack It evolved but I simplified it over the years.
“We want to create a threat across the whole field, so if 13 defenders are standing in a line, there’s space between each of them, and we want to threaten each of those areas and the areas behind the kicking spaces. You start with a structure of line-outs, scrums and kick-offs.” .How do we deconstruct D? [clicks fingers] Then we go and play what’s in front of us?
“It’s amazing to watch; Don’t get me wrong, I love it – but the parts we focus on are very simple: find the two-by-ones and get good at picking them. It’s about encouraging people to find those things and continually reinforcing the things that allow us to go and do those things: lift our heads up and talk. Stand up, look up, speak. If you follow these three principles we will be good at rugby because our players are good at rugby. Alex Mitchell is a very good rugby player; We want to let him be a good rugby player, not be a burden on him. Release him. Not from a technical perspective, but from a mindset perspective, it’s about freeing people up to play the game in front of them. ‘What do I do next?’ “How many times, when asked, do I say: ‘Lift your head and make your rugby decision’.”
This is of no use on a side with a soft belly; It sounds like an “airy fairy,” as Vesty puts it. That’s why Northampton has emphasized recruiting tough players and Vesty should know such a player when he sees one. As a fourth-generation Tiger, Vesty began his playing career behind one of the toughest teams in European rugby history but also found attacking inspiration in Pat Howard.
“I was at Leicester during my formative years with my first captain, Martin Johnson,” says Vesty. “You couldn’t believe how lucky you were. But the group there was ridiculous: Johnson, Ben Kay, Richard Cockerill, Dorian West, Neil Back, Martin Corry, Lewis Moody and others. They could hardly contain themselves. I basically loved it. It resonated with who I am and who I am. This was extremely formative. They were being so harsh it was ridiculous. And strong people continue to work hard. When the fan hits, they continue to work hard and that’s what you need.
“Pat was my first [senior] coach and he would always ask why we were trying to do certain things. I got a lot from him. But if I had stayed in one place I would have been quite narrow-minded.”
Fighting both at home and on the European front brings additional obstacles but there is real excitement in Northampton; The Saints are not afraid of the magnitude of this challenge.
“Turn me over,” says Vesty. “If the option doesn’t have that… I absolutely love it. That’s what it’s all about, testing yourself against the best. The back end of these competitions is where you are truly tested.
“And how excited we are! You’re in the quadrant and you’re either there or you’re not. Flip, I’d rather be us any day of the week. Yes, it creates some stress, but I’d rather have it than not have it. But ask me on Monday morning!
“We go to work and most of what we do is fun. Our environment is a beautiful place to be; “It’s a lot of fun, it’s challenging, but we laugh at each other and ourselves.”
Is it fun and challenging? As it stands now, that sums up the Saints nicely.