Northampton 'are a physical team too' - Hendy

Northampton Saints have shown other teams they can now "beat you up as well as run round you", according to winger George Hendy.

Saints, who reached last season's European Champions Cup final, have become known for their free-flowing style under director of rugby Phil Dowson.

But Hendy insisted the power of their pack was now an equally important facet in the way they approach games.

"This year we've put a real spin on the conceptions of us," he told BBC Radio Northampton's Saints Show.

"People used to think we'd come out firing and then let teams back in - those first two games against Exeter and Gloucester, that could have been the case - but now looking at the stats after the first round of Prem games, we were top on dominant tackles, top on dominant carries.

"We're showing everybody in the league that we are a physical team now - we do have a big strong pack and can beat you up as well as run round you now. That's a big bonus for us."

Northampton face Pretoria Bulls in the European Champions Cup this weekend, having begun their campaign with a 35-27 victory in Pau.

Hendy scored the last of their five tries, but the number of wasted opportunities, which led to them trailing 14-12 at the interval, was a cause for concern.

"We looked at our execution and it wasn't good enough, we put ourselves in positions to score and come away with points, lots of 22 entries, but not crossing the line enough so we've looked at that this week," he said.

"The scrum is on fire and when you've got an area of the game that is going so well, it's a massive help in getting you out of a lot of tough positions. They did it again and again and again, so credit to the front row."

Saints were targeted by a noisy French crowd during the game but Hendy said it had merely served to make them fight even harder.

"We're hungrier now than ever. We made the semi-finals and lost to Leinster (in 2024) and made the final the year after and lost to Bordeaux so we have a real desire to go one step further in this competition and win," he added.

"There's no naivety around that, (but) we're really confident in the ability we've got and back ourselves in the group stages, get a home draw in the last 16, home draw in the quarter-finals and really kick on.

"We've got a lot of characters in the team where a hostile crowd only revs them up even more. We all puffed our chests out when the game was getting tough. We battled through it and worked hard for each other. I absolutely loved it and I know a lot of the other boys did."

Saints have beaten Bulls in the last two seasons but Hendy said they were well aware of the challenge the South Africans will pose on Sunday.

"We know what's coming. They're a really big physical pack that pride themselves on set piece so our forwards have a big day ahead of them - and they've got an electric back line too," he said.

"We're now a physical team and can beat them up, run through them and over them - mauls are going well, scrum was exceptional last weekend so if those lads can deliver the same performance we'll have a good day."