Sleightholme Views European Victories as a ‘Catapult’ for Saints’ Premiership Ambitions

England wing Ollie Sleightholme, who first played for Northampton’s senior team in the 2018-19 season, states that the club must leverage its performance in European competition as a “catapult” to reignite its Premiership title aspirations. Saints secured consecutive victories in the Investec Champions Cup, including a 30-21 triumph against Bulls in South Africa last weekend, played at altitude. However, the current Premiership champions will return to league play against Saracens on Sunday, having achieved only three wins from their initial seven matches this season. “There’s no little games anymore – it’s a real big game. They’re going to want our scalp and we want theirs. They’re one of the top sides in the country when they’re on [song], similar to us, so it should be a good one,” Sleightholme communicated to BBC Radio Northampton. “Last year, Europe was a bit of a catapult for us and fingers crossed it’ll be the same thing this year – a bit of a catapult for us to start getting the performances in the Premiership that we want,” Sleightholme remarked. “We just need confidence and then we’ll start to get the performances we want and be more consistent with it.” Last season, Saints defeated Saracens three times en route to claiming their first title in a decade, a run that included a dramatic 22-20 victory in the play-offs, with Sleightholme contributing a try in two of those encounters. This season, he has already scored four tries in eight appearances, in addition to two against Australia and one each against South Africa and Japan during the autumn internationals. Sleightholme represented England alongside fellow club members Tommy Freeman and George Furbank; however, Furbank’s participation in the Six Nations is uncertain after he sustained a fractured arm against Bulls. “Playing international rugby is one thing, playing with some of your best mates is another – it was a huge thing for me,” he further stated. “I made my debut in the summer in New Zealand and couldn’t really have anybody there – no-one could get over – but having my family at the autumn games was really cool.” “That’s the level I want to be performing at and I’ll just keep trying to get better every week and keep pushing for that.” Scrum-half Alex Mitchell is set to play his 100th match for Northampton against Saracens, with Alex Coles captaining the team in Furbank’s absence. George Hendy will commence the game at full-back, having scored one of the tries during the victory over Bulls.