'The boys are certainly pumped' - Sam Vesty

Northampton head coach Sam Vesty believes insists his side are ‘pumped’ for their Gallagher Premiership semi-final clash with Saracens on Saturday.

The Saints will come up against Sarries at the StoneX Stadium in the play-offs for a place in the final.

The last time the two sides met in April, Northampton came out on top 38-29 which they will hope to repeat for a place in their first final since they won the competition in 2014.

Northampton have not been in action since demolishing Newcastle 66-5 on April 21 and Vesty thinks his side have rested and re-energised for their post-season push.

He told a press conference: “The boys are certainly pumped for a semi at the weekend.

“We have enjoyed ourselves and had a bit of time together away from rugby. We cranked training up steadily and we are in a good spot.

“It’s come at the end of a lot of hard work. You put a lot of effort into getting to these games and it’s the exciting bit really – hopefully two more games and it’s what everyone looks forward to, so very exciting.”

Northampton will be hoping to go one step further than they did last year when they were beaten by eventual champions Leicester 27-14.

Vesty claims the team have no scars from that performance and continued: “It’s a completely different game, it happened a long time ago.

“I think we played some decent rugby and ultimately didn’t get across the line.

“We know the most important thing is to focus on what we are doing and looking forward to our next game and prepping to put our best foot forward and I think it’s very important every week. It’s all about us, all about what we can do on the pitch.”

Saracens finished top of the table after 20 games this campaign and have qualified for the play-offs for a second successive time since being promoted back to the Premiership, following their relegation the previous year.

The North London side also fell victim to Leicester last season, in their pursuit of a first title since 2016, and Vesty knows their best is needed for victory on Saturday.

He said: “They are a very good team and it takes us playing well and playing well for long periods of time and I think if we do that we will win. If we don’t, or only play well in patches, then it will be tough as they are a very strong outfit.

“I believe if we play our game and put our game on the pitch for a good length of time we will win.”