Northampton Saints: Will Phil Dowson's team repeat Premiership title win of 2014?

Ten years ago, Northampton Saints won the Premiership. It was the first - and so far only - time in their history they were crowned English champions and it felt like it could be the start of a prolonged era of success.

But a decade on from that dramatic 24-20 win over Saracens, they have only added the 2019 Premiership Cup to their trophy cabinet.

This season, though, things feel different.

Saints head into the final six games of the Premiership season on the back of 10 wins in a row stretching back to November.

That run includes eye-catching wins at Exeter, Gloucester and Saracens - as well as the the most impressive of all, against Munster in the European Champions Cup.

There is a real belief among the coaches, players and supporters that this is the year they can emulate the success of 2014.

The biggest difference this season is that defensively Saints have been much harder to score against.

Under New Zealander Chris Boyd, Saints became one of the most exciting attacking forces in the country, but current director of rugby Phil Dowson has ensured they have a defence to match their offensive ambitions.

Last season Saints conceded 86 tries in 20 Premiership fixtures and only Newcastle Falcons, who finished bottom of the table, had a worse record.

Lee Radford was brought in from rugby league and things quickly started to change.

This season after 12 games, Saints have the second-best defence. Radford has simplified the system and the way it is relayed to the players, and worked on a more aggressive mindset.

Their maul defence - often led by former England lock Courtney Lawes - has been significantly better too.

It is not just the result of an adapted defensive system. Almost all the Saints players added weight during pre-season and this additional physicality, combined with a more proactive defensive approach, has seen them increasingly dominant in tackles and at the breakdown.

Crucially, the additional bulk has had very little impact on their attacking potency.

Saints were the Premiership's leading try scorers in both of the previous two seasons, with an average of 4.2 tries per game in 2021-22 and 3.8 in 2022-23. This season, after 12 matches, their average is 3.6.

The statistics, of course, only tell part of the story. Saints are still capable of playing breathtaking, high-tempo, expansive rugby.

Another important factor in their success this season is the culture at the club.

This is largely a Saints team that has been several years in the development. Many key players, such as George Furbank, Fraser Dingwall and Alex Coles, are products of the club's academy.

They have experienced some difficult times together at Saints but that shared journey has made them a cohesive group who know each other well.

And, as a group, they are also desperate to send Lawes and Lewis Ludlam off to their new careers in France - at Brive and Toulon respectively - as English champions.

Head coach Sam Vesty describes this cohesion as "fundamentally the most important part to get right".

He says the club is a fun place to work and because of that, the players are prepared to put in the hard yards for each other.

It is a deeper squad too, with supposed fringe players stepping up when needed. Losing Juarno Augustus at the start of the season to a bad bicep tear was potentially calamitous, but Sam Graham filled the gap superbly and there is similar competition in all positions.

A decade ago, the Northampton team that won the title was forged in then captain Dylan Hartley's image. They were a tough, gritty, enormously competitive group of players.

The continuing presence in 2024 of Lawes and the Waller brothers, Alex and Ethan, is a reminder of that and of how their success was built on the strength of their set-piece.

Today's Saints may be more expansive and unpredictable, but the improvement to their scrum this season is a reminder that all successful teams need a strong pack.

Saints can win the Premiership this season. They can go a long way in the Champions Cup too.

But the break for the Six Nations has not helped their cause as they had built up so much momentum beforehand. Although all teams are in the same position, it is Saints at the front of the pack as they enter the finishing straight.

For them to stay there and earn themselves a crucial home semi-final, they need to be back at their previous levels immediately.

What could work in their favour is better weather and firmer pitches, which tend to bring out the best in the team.

What you can be sure of with Saints is that whatever the outcome, it is bound to be an exciting ride.