George Hendy admits that it would be sweet to win the PREM Rugby Cup at the home of their fiercest rivals next weekend, but knows that they have a job to do in Devon this weekend.
The England A winger, who was a member of the Saints side that lost in the 2023 semi-finals to London Irish, has scored in his last two games in the tournament against Newcastle Red Bulls and Saracens.
Standing in their way are the Exeter Chiefs, who are enjoying a resurgence this season, which was typified when they pulled a 33-33 draw out of the jaws of defeat at Franklin’s Gardens in September, which the Saints are still bitter about.
Hendy, who has scored 10 tries for the Saints in 17 games so far this season, which is his best return for the club, believes that they owe Rob Baxter’s side one.
“You only get three opportunities a year to win some silverware, so why not start the season as you mean to go on and win one in a couple of weeks?” he told RugbyPass
“We’ve had a little chat about it. We’re confident that we can go all the way, and whether that’s at Wellford Road, it might make it a little bit sweeter. And it would be pretty big.
“Obviously, you know, it’s one step at a time. We’ve got to get there first, and I think the whole group’s really looking forward to this weekend and getting a result down at Sandy Park
“We played them at the start of this year in the first round of the PREM, and then they came back and finished the game with a draw, and to be honest, we were a bit bitter after that.
“We felt like we could have comfortably won, especially with how the first half went, and we kind of took foot off the gas, really.
“And we feel like we owe them one, and I’ve never been down to Sandy Park, so I’m really looking forward to that.”
While Hendy starts at full-back against the Chiefs, a long-awaited return to rugby awaits for England hooker Curtis Langdon on the bench, as the hooker is set to feature in his first match of the season.
Northampton matchday 23 v Exeter:
15 George Hendy
14 James Martin
13 Tom Litchfield
12 Rory Hutchinson
11 James Ramm
10 Anthony Belleau
9 Archie McParland
1 Tom West
2 Henry Walker
3 Luke Green
4 Tom Lockett
5 JJ Van Der Mescht
6 Josh Kemeny
7 Charlie Ulcoq
8 Callum Chick (c)
Replacements:
16 Curtis Langdon
17 Joe Cowell – Guest player
18 Will Davies-King – Guest player, Northampton Saints debut
19 Chunya Munga
20 Archie Benson
21 Tom James
22 Toby Thame
23 Amena Caqusau