Langdon: Northampton Saints Must Build European Momentum

Curtis Langdon, a hooker for Northampton Saints who joined the club from Montpellier in 2023, stated that the team’s recent home loss to Gloucester should act as a “wake-up call” for their aspirations to compete for European accolades this season. The team, who are the reigning champions, suffered a 25-17 defeat upon the Premiership’s resumption following a month-long hiatus for the Autumn internationals. Their attention now shifts to the Champions Cup, where they reached the semi-finals in the previous season, with upcoming matches scheduled against Castres and Bulls. “It hurts losing at home. We’ve got to go two weeks now in Europe and need to build some momentum,” Langdon communicated to BBC Radio Northampton. He further commented, “It’s tough to take, our first last home since Bristol at the start of last season, and we just weren’t playing our game in the first half.” The Saints aim to enhance their performance from the previous European season, given that they have not secured a continental trophy since the 2013-14 Challenge Cup. Langdon also stated, “We just want to make memories and see if we can go even further.” He elaborated, “Castres coming here, big French pack. Physically, we weren’t there first half (against Gloucester), it’s a big test next week to right some wrongs.” After seven rounds of matches, Northampton currently holds the eighth position in the Premiership standings and must bridge a 10-point deficit to reach the play-off spots, which is necessary for them to have an opportunity to defend the title they claimed for the first time in ten years during the previous season. A positive development for the Saints was the return of England scrum-half Alex Mitchell, who made his initial appearance of the season by entering the game from the bench after recovering from a neck injury. Langdon commented further: “It’s been a tough time for Mitch, he picked up this injury, there was a bit of uncertainty on how long he was going to be out for, we knew he’d be back but we didn’t know when.” He continued, “When he came on it gave us a big boost. He’s obviously excited to be back and brought a lot of tempo to our play in the second half.”