North: Saints and Saracens are so similar

Northampton head to Allianz Park on Sunday for what promises to be a titanic Aviva Premiership tussle.

Saracens currently sit top of the table, seven points clear of second-placed Saints with four games left to play.

And both teams will be eager to assert their authority this weekend as the bid to rubber stamp a top-two place continues.

“From what we’ve seen of Saracens they’re an exceptional team,” said North. “They’ve gone away from being a mauling and brawling team to playing open rugby. It’s quite an attractive brand.

“It’s very similar to how we play here. We crash it up, but when it’s on we like to chuck it about a bit.

“The challenge on Sunday will be pretty good. It’s obviously away and it’s tough for us to go away there, but the form we carry in from the win at Sale will stand us in good stead for the weekend.”

North is eager to take things one step at a time as he and his team-mates look to become the first Saints side to lift the Premiership trophy.

And he said: “We look to the end goal but there’s still a lot of rugby to be played and we’ve got a lot of tough teams coming up.

“We’ve got to focus on every game and what will be will be. It will take care of itself in the end.”