The ‘ruffle some feathers’ warning Northampton have issued to Leinster ahead of semi-final rematch
Northampton's Alex Mitchell goes on the attack in 2024's Investec Champions Cup semi-final at Leinster
Reigning Gallagher Premiership champions Northampton have issued a “ruffle some feathers” warning to Leinster ahead of their repeat Anglo-Irish semi-final in the Investec Champions Cup.
Saints’ 51-16 quarter-final win on Saturday over Castres at Franklin’s Gardens booked them a return to Dublin, the Irish capital where they narrowly lost out to Leo Cullen’s side in last season’s last four.
Northampton paid a heavy price for a slow start in that 20-17 Croke Park defeat, falling 20-3 behind in the 44th minute following a hat-trick of tries from Leinster’s James Lowe before impressively rallying and ending the match feeling frustrated by their three-point loss.
Second successive Champions Cup semi-final away to Leinster awaits Saints
They quickly rebounded from that elimination to win their first English league title since 2014, and they will now fly to Dublin on the first weekend of May believing they can cause problems at Aviva Stadium despite how commanding Leinster have looked in recent weeks when hammering Harlequins 62-0 and Glasgow 52-0.
Appearing on Premier Sports following Northampton’s success against Castres, Fin Smith spoke confidently about their semi-final chances against a team that has reached the last three Champions Cup finals. “We have got a few games between now and then,” began the England out-half.
“I must admit, we were all sitting at home watching that game Friday night (against Glasgow) thinking, ‘How do you stop this lot?’ They seem to ask so many questions. When you sit back and let them get into their flow, it almost looks unstoppable at times. But we are going there to try and ruffle some feathers and try and put them off their flow, and hopefully then they start asking questions of each other a little bit.
“The pressure at the breakdown is going to go up a notch. We were okay in that area, could have been a lot sharper – Castres got a lot of joy on the floor, especially in that first half an hour, and we know they [Leinster] are going to come after that.
“So we will really look to tighten that area up, and then ultimately it’s just about doing what we do and backing it. If you go over to Dublin against that team and wait and see what they are going to do, you have almost lost already, Smith continued before recalling Northampton’s slow semi-final start 11 months ago.
“I’d be the first to admit the intensity they brought probably hit us in the face and shocked us a little bit. It was a proper test energy, just pressurising us everywhere, whether that be with their real linespeed defence or, like I said going after every breakdown.
“I’d like to think now we have faced that once we know what is going to come, and hopefully it’s not going to shock us, but saying that is one thing, stopping it is another. We’ll see what happens.”
One player whose trip to Ireland in 2025 will be very different compared to 2024 is Henry Pollock. He was in fancy dress in the crowd last May, having travelled over as an apprentice on a jolly.
However, he will now return as a capped England Test international at the age of 20 who is touted as a British and Irish Lions bolter in the squad that Andy Farrell will announce just days after Northampton’s latest semi-final encounter with Leinster.
Not a bad 12months aye?! https://t.co/Oq7dBTzNZ6
— Lawrence Dallaglio (@dallaglio8) April 12, 2025
“It’s been a whirlwind. Getting that international cap early on was an amazing experience. I have got such good memories from that Six Nations campaign. Last year, I went down there as a non-23 p**s-up.
“This year, I hopefully will be involved with the team. Look, we are buzzing. Leinster are a quality outfit and it’s going to be a game I am going to look forward to for the next couple of weeks… Bring on Leinster away.”
Scrum-half Alex Mitchell added: “We can’t wait. These are the big games you want to play in, semi-finals, especially against a team like Leinster, their quality, they are the best around. We can’t wait. We are looking forward to it.”
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