Prop Ma’afu is impressed by the ‘competitive culture’ at Saints

The Australian prop, who has 14 Test caps to his name, arrived at Northampton from Western Force during the summer.

He took a little time to adjust to his new surroundings, but has been in good form in recent weeks as Saints have started to step on the accelerator.

Jim Mallinder’s men won their seventh successive game in all competitions last weekend, beating Worcester 33-10 at Sixways.

And when asked whether he had ever been part of such an impressive winning run, Ma’afu replied: “Not that I can remember. To be honest, I haven’t won this many games in such a short period of time in the past few years.

“It’s good. The guys have got a strong desire to train to win and to play to win, and we’re showing that each week.

“We’re put in different circumstances in games and we’re coming away with good results, which is good.

“We enjoy winning, we enjoy training and we’re going out and building a culture, a competitive culture.

“Everyone strives to be the best we can be.

“We just want good results and that’s what we’re aiming for.”

Saints’ winning streak will face a severe test this weekend, though, as Irish giants Leinster head to Franklin’s Gardens for a crunch Heineken Cup clash.

And 30-year-old tighthead Ma’afu is well aware of the threat Matt O’Connor’s men will pose.

“We’re on a good run at the moment and that’s been good for us, but these guys are no slouches,” he said.

“We know we’ve got our work cut out for us so it’s going to be a tough one.

“We’re going to prepare as best as we can for a very solid performance at home.”