Phil Dawson had three weeks to prepare his side for a decisive showdown with the Saracens. Photo: Getty Images/David Rogers
No team in Premier League playoff history has prepared for a season-defining semi-final without a competitive match in three weeks. However, having last played a league match on April 21 – a 66-5 demolition of Newcastle at Kingston Park – this is exactly the scenario that Phil Dawson and the rest of his Saints coaches, and then the Saracens at the StoneX stadium, faced. Saturday.
The odds are stacked against the visitors: the Saracens have not lost at home either in the Premier League or in Europe this season; Northampton have not won at Barnet since October 2019 due to the salary cap scandal, nor have they won a Premier League semi-final since winning the title in 2014; and there have only been six away winners in playoff history.
However, Northampton believe. There is no point in a free-kick aiming to be one better this season than last, when the Saints lost in the play-offs to eventual champions Leicester. Northampton will race down the M1 with a win in mind.
"There is pressure on this group because we finished fourth under [Chris Boyd] last year and that's one of the things which we wanted was to go even better," Dawson says.
"We know what we are capable of – now, can we perform and perform in a day? The way the Saracens play now is completely different from the traditional 'way' what would they play. They probably don't get credit for the way they play.
"We had to make sure the players' heads, they don't just think it's “the way of the Saracens”; because it's constantly evolving, especially the way they counterattack the ball. many international talents, it's not hard to see why the Saracens are the favorites to make it to the final. Photo: Getty Images/Shaun Botterill
While the absence of competitive rugby over the past two weeks could be considered a disadvantage, it gave Dawson time to carefully plan his do-or-die match. With two friendlies against Leicester in that three-week period, the Northampton rugby director has been able to come up with his own master plan to topple the league leaders on their own ground.
"'Master plan' maybe a little strong" Dawson says. “The first week was like a decompression after two intense games – Newcastle and Sarris – in which we did a lot of good. We had a social meeting and we played Leicester here in a friendly, which was a really good opportunity for the boys to get 40 minutes of playing time for both first and second picks. The first week was game time as we prepared for the next two weeks.
"Then last week everything was about us, to some extent, without a frank talk about the Saracens. There are elements of our game that we are working on and trying to improve, some things that we are not good at, but also things that will threaten us from Sarri's point of view. view.
“They don’t want to hear about the Saracens all day, every day, but the material we are coaching is relevant to the game this Saturday. Then next week will be our regular training week. “The focus of the Saracens, that's what we're going to do and that's why we're practicing it.” All this work, the basic basic work has already been done, and next week we can be very clear. This 'master plan'
Phil Dawson is not a fly-on-the-wall fan
The main theme at the start of this fallow period was clear – don't peak too soon.
“One of the things we were aware of was intensity management in terms of how many collisions we take on and the energy.” He says. "If we spend three weeks just talking about the Saracens, the guys will get so bored with it that they will become callous. They will be ready to play in week 2, not week 3.
"Sam [Vesti, offensive coach] will make a game start protocol, things we think could harm them . Sometimes it works very effectively and sometimes it doesn't. “We think that this defender will be here, so we will target x, y and z and stick to that game model.” You have all these plans, and then this guy is not chosen, and you say, “Well, it's not going to work.” But maybe you just run it anyway and trust that the players see the space. That's what Sam teaches – our ability to see space and throw the ball into it.
"There will definitely be something that we will try to define and get after, but this is no different from any other week.
After a unique two weeks between Northampton and the first Premier League final since 2014, it's a week of normality.
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