Northampton Saints encouraged to ’embrace their mistakes’ ahead of Leinster showdown

While most coaches instruct their players to eradicate unforced errors, Northampton Saints head coach Sam Vesty seems to encourage it in order for them to improve.

Northampton have caught the eye with their free-flowing style of rugby which has elevated them to the top of the Premiership standings and into this year’s Investec Investec Champions Cup semi-final that will take place against Leinster at Croke Park on Saturday.

Vesty is the man responsible for the Saints‘ attacking style of play and he is staying true to his philosophy ahead of the crunch match against their highly-rated opponents.

‘Embrace the right types of mistakes’

“You have to embrace the right types of mistakes,” he told the BBC. “That is how you get better. I love the fact that there are several ways of playing the game.

“Creating space with speed and physicality, or with a kicking game. I like it played quickly with minimal stoppages, which brings out the best for spectators and really floats my boat.

“I like to give the players loads of different problems and then help them on their journey to solve those problems as confident decision makers.

“With that you will make loads of mistakes, bad decisions and errors but we have to be happy in that environment where we want to learn and get better.”

Vesty spent most of his playing career as a utility back at his hometown club, Leicester Tigers, but is now firmly entrenched as a coach at Northampton.

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He made two Test appearances for England in 2009 and is eager to learn the lessons from his time as a player.

“As a player, I had coaches who wanted to play with freedom and then as soon as there was a mistake, they screamed, ‘Don’t do that, look after the ball’,” said Vesty.

“Learning is not a drill and it doesn’t look pretty or amazing. If it does, you’re not learning anything because the pressure isn’t high enough.

“The higher pressure you live under, the better you will be.”

Aware of the challenge ahead

Vesty knows that his charges will face a massive challenge at a sold-out Croke Park on Saturday, but he is determined to bring calmness to the Northampton Saints camp ahead of the highly anticipated showdown.

“It’s just a rugby game and that is our focus,” said Vesty. “The same prep with the same mindset.

“The boys are taking ownership and have really matured. They hold each other to account and it comes out in tough moments. They are solving problems with calm heads.”

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