Northampton Saints director of rugby Jim Mallinder says that all of the attention this week at Franklin’s Gardens has been given to achieving a positive result in Castres this weekend.
The Saints qualified for the Heineken Cup quarter finals with their Round 5 win over Edinburgh. But with a home tie far from certain Mallinder says that he wants the Saints team to keep their future in their own hands by winning in Castres – something that no other team has managed so far in either the Heineken Cup or Top 14 in 2010/11.
“It is a massive challenge for us this weekend,” Mallinder said. “Castres are a quality team with a proud record at home and they have beaten some big teams there this season.
“We know from the home tie that it doesn’t matter what team they put out, they will be competitive and very physical, especially up front, and we will have to be prepared to be asked questions all over the field.
“But we also know that our future is in our own hands and that if we win we will have a home quarter final, which will be very important as the Heineken Cup continues later in the year.
“This is a massive motivation. We don’t want to be having to rely on other teams in other games, and all of our attention this week has been put towards getting a positive result in Castres.”
There are a wide variety of ways to follow the action from southern France. The Saints’ official Facebook page will have the usual exclusive match blog, with score updates also being published every 10 minutes on the club’s Twitter feed.
BBC Radio Northampton will have live commentary, while Sky subscribers will be able to watch the match live on Sky Sports 1/HD1.
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS TEAM TO PLAY CASTRES
Heineken Cup Round 6
Stade Pierre Antoine
Saturday, January 22nd, 2011
Kick off 6:45pm CET
15 Ben Foden
14 Joe Ansbro
13 Jon Clarke
12 James Downey
11 Paul Diggin
10 Stephen Myler
9 Ryan Powell
1 Soane Tonga’uiha
2 Dylan Hartley (capt)
3 Brian Mujati
4 Calum Clark
5 Mark Sorenson
6 Phil Dowson
7 Tom Wood
8 Roger Wilson
Replacements
16 Brett Sharman
17 Alex Waller
18 Tom Mercey
19 Christian Day
20 Mark Easter
21 Stuart Commins
22 Shane Geraghty
23 Bruce Reihana