Reihana backing Saints to dominate English rugby for years to come

Jim Mallinder’s men claimed a dramatic 24-20 extra-time win against Saracens at Twickenham in May to become champions for the first time.

It was an achievement they had come close to a year earlier, but defeat in the showpiece final to Leicester ended their hopes.

And now they have finally managed to claim the top division title, Reihana, who played for Saints for nine years before leaving in 2011, believes they can taste plenty more success.

“It’s been in the pipeline for a number of years, but they hadn’t quite got over the final hurdle,” said the recently-retired utility back.

“Now they have, they can do it a lot more in the future.

“I definitely think they can go on. A lot of it will be about injuries, but they seem to have a really good squad at the moment and with the youngsters coming through it looks brilliant.

“It’s true testament to the setup there and they’ve got the ability to do it.”

Throughout Reihana’s time at the Gardens, Leicester Tigers were a dominant force in English rugby.

But the 38-year-old believes his former club now have the same champion spirit that the side from up the M1 have possessed for so long.

“Leicester always had that winning culture and they always seemed to pull games out of the hat because they knew how to win games in the end,” said Reihana.

“When times got tough, they kept pushing - and that was the Saints last season.”