Champions Cup: Courtnall Skosan backs Northampton Saints to go ‘all the way’

David Skippers
Courtnall Skosan Northampton Saints v Racing-92 Champions Cup 2021-Alamy.jpg

Northampton Saints flyer Courtnall Skosan is looking forward to participating in this season’s Champions Cup and feels they can go “all the way” in the competition.

The Premiership outfit face a tricky assignment at current champions La Rochelle in their tournament opener on Saturday, and Skosan feels minimising their mistakes will be crucial if they want to get the better of the French outfit.

Limiting mistakes

“I think for us it’s all about cleaning up our game, just not making a lot of mistakes,” the former Springbok wing told the Champions Cup’s official website.

“We have the game that can take us all the way. It’s just about making sure that it’s clean, and I think that’s a big focus for us.

“The quality of players, of teams, of games – that’s the big thing. You’re basically playing international teams every weekend, which is why I say if you clean up your game, it will probably be better because it’s almost like you’re playing a Test.

“We want to do well, get a few wins at the beginning and go from there.”

One of the biggest competitions in the world

Northampton battled during the 2021/22 Champions Cup season as they lost all four of their matches. Skosan crossed for two tries during his club’s campaign and described scoring in the tournament as being different to any other competition.

“Tries are always special, but I didn’t understand the magnitude of this competition until I played it,” he added.

“It’s quite special to contribute, and if you get a win on top of that as well, it just adds to it. It’s special to score a try.

“The rich history, the players who have been a part of the competition, the teams who have won it – I think that for me is the coolest thing and makes it one of the biggest competitions in the world.”

Skosan’s move to Northampton last year was his first foray into rugby outside his native South Africa, and he feels the inclusion of three clubs from there in the Champions Cup can only be good for the tournament.

“I think that it’s really quite exciting,” he said.

“We were looking forward to getting one or two of them, as some of the boys haven’t travelled to South Africa, and I think it’s a great experience. It creates a different element to the competition.”

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