‘They’re not like us’ – Saints’ special spirit creates shot at glory

Northampton Saints vs. Bordeaux-Begles in the Investec Champions Cup final

Cardiff Principality Stadium Date: Saturday, May 24 Kick-off 14:45 BST

Northampton’s pre-game dressing-room playlist included Nina Simone’s Sinnerman.

However, after the game, Northampton channeled Kendrick Lamar as they celebrated a semi-final victory in Aviva Stadium.

He told the players, “It’s all about connection.” Our DNA is where it originates.

He said, “They are not like us,” and he pointed to Leinster as he passed through the dressing room wall.

Saints have kept this theme alive throughout their Champions Cup campaign as well as on that day.

In their pre-game huddle at Aviva Stadium, captain Fraser Dingwall said, “I promise you, the connection they have with them isn’t built like ours.”

“Our bond, which we cultivate daily, is much stronger.”

It appears to be obvious from a distance as well.

When the pressure is on, Northampton has risen together rather than splintered apart, at home against the Bulls, at home against Munster, and away to Leinster in the Aviva.

Dingwall claims that the club’s management system helped them come to terms with their common goal rather than by chance.

He told Rugby Union Weekly, “First of all, we all grew up together.” The academy system is what the entire club is built upon.

More than half of Northampton’s senior squad should be self-promoted. They made it happen this year, with 32 of the 61 first-team players graduating from college.

The bonds have a long history.

Dingwall, now 26, was 16 when he first met George Furbank, who he has shared the captaincy with this year.

The pair cohabitated for two years as teenagers in one of the clubs’ facilities for young people. Alex Mitchell, the scrum-half, would turn around and play console games.

Dingwall continued, “You don’t necessarily have to have a lot of people in this town, but what you do have is the people who live there,”

Because you spend so much time together, both at the club and off the field, you become more than just coworkers. You also become friends, and your friendships become very close.

Performance and development are influenced by that connection and how important each teammate is to one another.

She says, “You guys are so close.”

The bonding is natural in the academy because there are four or five houses in the club and people are constantly hanging out with one another.

Dingwall and Mitchell are now senior figures.

Since Lewis Ludlam, Courtney Lawes, and Alex Waller left last summer, they have updated their own homes and moved to the “Mayfair” section of the Franklin’s Gardens dressing room, which is a little more spacious and far from the toilets.

However, the band-of-brothers ethos is still strong and is being strengthened by freshmen.

Teams travel, social gatherings, late-night tricks, and a meal are available this month.

Dingwall smiledly and unfazed that he had missed the opportunity to celebrate Mitchell, Fin Smith, Tommy Freeman, and Henry Pollock’s selections for the British and Irish Lions squad.

Other members of the huddle, a different generation riffing on the same ensemble, have been replaced by the summer’s lack of senior voices.

When asked about dressing room leaders, Mitchell responded, “George Furbank is a good captain, very similar to Dingwall, and he can send a rocket up you if needed.”

Fin Smith is a fantastic actor. Although Henry Pollock enjoys jeffing and effing, he also brings a lot of energy.

Curtis Langdon will be the first to attack the opposition, according to Alex Coles, who is really good.

Bordeaux-Begles, a new team with higher pay and lower odds, will face off on Saturday.

Can Saints come up with the words to sum up their union and snuff out the stars once more?

It might be the difference in a final of fine margins.

Dingwall remarked, “I’m sure every other dressing room will say the same thing, and it’s not disrespecting the other team.”

“I just completely agree that the group we have this year is so invested in what we’re trying to do, and so emotionally detached from the pitch that you get 1% more fight out of people.”