Radford Calls Premiership Rugby Cup a ‘Great Concept’

Lee Radford, who became Northampton Saints’ defence coach in the summer of 2023, has described the Premiership Rugby Cup as a “great concept”. Last season, the Saints did not advance past the group stage of the competition, yet they subsequently secured the Premiership title, marking their first win in ten years. Nevertheless, Radford views the cup as an excellent chance for elite clubs to assess their squad and pinpoint players capable of making an impact in the league later in the season. “I love the fact it gives some opportunities to young players that probably haven’t had the minutes in the early rounds of the Premiership,” Radford stated during an interview with BBC Radio Northampton. He added, “It’s a good opportunity this time of year to have a little recess of what’s gone on in the early period of the season and give you some stuff to work on in a less pressured environment.” Radford further explained, “Without doing it a disservice, it’s not the blowtorch of the Premiership. There’s enough pressure to be competitive and want to win all your games, but also the freedom of being able to try some other things.” He cited an example from the previous year, saying, “I really enjoyed it last year because it gave us an early indicator of where some blokes were at – George Hendy, for example, he made some real strides during that period and you could see he was ‘Prem ready’ almost.” This season, the Saints commenced their Premiership Rugby Cup campaign with a 31-12 victory over Leicester Tigers, followed by a narrow 31-29 win against a highly motivated Nottingham team. Radford commented on the Nottingham match, stating, “For Nottingham it was their European Cup final, it was their Prem final, you could see how serious they took it.” He continued, “They got together in a huddle, you could see there was real intent, it was a really big occasion for them playing at the Premiership champions.” Northampton, who won the Cup in 2019, will conclude the initial phase of the pool stage – with return fixtures scheduled for February – by visiting Championship and group leaders Coventry this Saturday. Radford anticipates that Coventry, similar to Nottingham, will present a formidable challenge. He further remarked, “Coventry have got the champions coming to their home ground, they’re going to be after it and the key for us is making sure we turn up with the right energy and intent.” Radford emphasized, “We can make errors, we can be a little bit giddy defensively but we can’t lose the energy battle. It’s really important that we dictate the intensity of the game and not let it be dictated to us.”