Hartley wants a show of pride from Saints as Ospreys fly in to Gardens

Northampton suffered a 19-13 defeat at the hands of Castres last weekend to get their Heineken Cup campaign off to a losing start.

But they are back at Franklin’s Gardens this weekend, hoping to build on two wins from two on their own turf this season.

And Hartley knows his men must step up their performance levels and show real desire if they are to keep their European hopes alive.

“We’ve had some hard weeks at the start of the season,” he said.

“We’ve had a lot of away games.

“When we’ve played at home we’ve had some outstanding form. This week, we’ve got to bounce back with some outstanding form again.

“We’ve got to look to play. At points last Saturday we looked a bit poor, we let them play instead of taking the game to them.

“This week, we’re going to have to start well, play proud like we’re at home and I’m fully confident we’ll play.”