Hartley Set To Take Saints To The Top Of Europe

If anyone knows the importance of bonus points in the Heineken Cup it is Dylan Hartley, the Northampton captain who leads his Saints out on Friday night at a packed and passionate Franklin’s Gardens against Castres to kick off this season’s premier European tournament.

The New Zealand born England hooker and his teammates scraped into the quarter-finals last year by virtue of being the second best runner up, which meant as eighth and last seeds a trip to the fortress that is Munster’s Thomond Park and ultimate defeat.

Knockout qualification in the first place was only achieved thanks to a last-gasp, fourth try and bonus point at home to Perpignan, and this was no thanks to Hartley.

“I had the ball in my hands with a four-man overlap outside me but decided, for some inexplicable reason, to punt the ball across the field instead which lost us the scoring chance,” he admits.

“I got subbed after that and sat there on the bench thinking I’d thrown the Heineken Cup away. Thankfully Jon Clarke managed to score a try in the dying seconds and by virtue of other results we just made it into the quarter-finals.

“The problem was, by being eighth seeds, it meant a trip to Munster where we’d lost narrowly in the pool. We had our chances in the quarter final as well, but their European experience told in the end.

“This year we see ourselves as genuine contenders for the Heineken Cup, but so will seven or eight other teams as well. Before all that our first aim has to be to qualify out of our group and then our next aim is to qualify as one of the top four clubs which means a home quarter-final. I don’t think any side in Europe would relish a quarter-final trip to our very own fortress here at Franklin’s.”

To do so means learning the lessons meted out during last season’s tournament. “We didn’t take anywhere near all our chances and that cost us,” Hartley explains. “Not getting a try bonus point away at Treviso comes to mind when there was one there for the taking. Failing to beat Munster away when so dominant is another factor.

“What last season taught us is that we must be better at closing games out, and we must be more clinical when presented with an opportunity. They’ve all been learning curves and we will be much the better for them this time round.”

That said it will not be plain sailing just to qualify. Apart from Friday’s French opponents Northampton also have to take on Cardiff and Edinburgh, all of whom will not be easy to beat at home, let alone away.

“Castres led the French Top 14 for much of last season so we know Friday’s game will be a tough contest, while no team in Europe finds playing in Cardiff and Edinburgh easy any more.

“The trick will be to try and win our home games and pinch a win or two away or, at the very least, ensure we always come out with bonus points. It’s been ten years since Northampton won the Heineken Cup and it’s about time the club launched a serious challenge to become European champions again.

“The belief is there, we’ve started well again in the Premiership, and we have many, young England stars in our side like Chris Ashton and Ben Foden, but first comes Castres and that’s where all our focus is right now.”