Aviva Premiership preview: London Wasps v Northampton Saints
It’s difficult to believe that Northampton Saints were in the second-tier just two years ago.
Their rise over the past two seasons has been meteoric, helped largely by the influence of head coach Jim Mallinder, who seems a dead cert to land the England job at some point in his career.
The 44-year-old confessed his main ambition is to land the biggest job in English rugby back in April, but for now, it’s Northampton who are benefitting from the former full-back’s services.
With four wins from their first five Aviva Premiership matches, the Saints have already made their intentions for the season crystal clear: a straight run to the play-offs and victory at Twickenham in the final.
There are those who argue they had their big chance to win their first league title last season. With the semi-final against Saracens at Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton were presented with a golden opportunity to reach their first final but blew it after conceding a late Schalk Britz try. The subsequent heartache is a feeling those squad members won’t want to experience again in a hurry. And that’s been evident in their performances so far this season.
On Sunday afternoon, Mallinder’s men travel to Adams Park to face 8th place London Wasps, looking to advance to the top of the Premiership. But the Saints head coach is wary of the task facing his side this weekend.
"Wasps are a tough proposition at Adams Park," Mallinder said. "They have a lot of experience and plenty of talent, and they have had some good results in Wycombe this season. They also came very close to beating Toulouse in France, so we know they are in good form too.
"The Premiership is proving to be a tight and competitive league this season and we know that we have to keep picking up points. So we will have to play with control and impose our game plan if we are to come home with a positive result."
Meanwhile, Wasps’ Director of Rugby Tony Hanks, know how imperative an early season win over Northampton could be for their own play-off aspirations.
"We are looking forward to a second consecutive week of rugby on home turf, having spent much of the season on the road," he said. "The Adams Park crowd really got behind the team last weekend and we will be hoping for much of the same this Sunday as we return to the Aviva Premiership.
"Wasps Northampton clashes are always highly competitive and hard fought and the encounters were extremely close last season. This game is massive for us in terms of driving our place in the league and our focus is securing the result we need."
With six championship wins under the belt, Wasps are undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with. Although they may have slipped off the radar in the last couple of campaigns, they can issue a real statement of intent to the rest of the Premiership with a home win on Sunday.
To do so, though, they will have to outwit the tactical mind of Mallinder. A task much easier said than done.
Prediction: Northampton Saints to snatch narrow victory.
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