Chick hails 'hugely refreshing' fearlessness of young Saints stars

Those are the words of Callum Chick, who couldn't be more impressed with the freedom the youngsters at Saints play with.

The likes of Tommy Freeman, Henry Pollock and most recently Edoardo Todaro have come through the club's Academy and taken to top-level rugby like ducks to water.

They have shown little fear going into tough environments, helping Saints to claim some memorable wins at home and abroad in recent seasons.

And ahead of a massive challenge at European champions Union Bordeaux Bègles on Sunday afternoon, Saints will again seek to prevail at an Investec Champions Cup citadel.

"The young lads (at Saints) are a bit of a joke to be honest!" said Chick, who has skippered the black, green and gold on several occasions this season.

"When I was younger, I was scared of everything, scared of getting things wrong.

"It's good to see, they're hugely impressive and it's testament to the Academy coaches here and the coaches bringing them through with the impact they can have straight out of the Academy in the PREM.

"You've got people like Edo (Todaro) getting his first international call-up at 18, 19 years old and you're seeing it out on the pitch in the PREM and in Europe, that they're players who are free when they play and they just enjoy playing rugby, which is hugely refreshing."

Saints know just how good they will need to be to beat a Bordeaux side who defeated them 28-20 in the Champions Cup final in Cardiff back in May.

"Obviously they're a team that won it last year, they've been in Top 14 finals in the past three or four years and as a squad, they're hugely impressive," Chick said.

"Going down there is going to be a challenge for us, but one we're really looking forward to.

"We go down there and we know that if we can play the game we want to and we can put the performance out on the field that we want then we're a match for anyone in the PREM but also in Europe so our main focus is just doing that."

So have the events of last season's European showpiece been spoken about in the Saints camp this week?

"We haven't really discussed it," said Chick, who moved to Northampton from Newcastle last summer.

"Obviously I wasn't here and for us it's a different season.

"That final was last year and for us it's two different squads.

"For us, it's an opportunity to go down there and win a game of rugby - and that's the most important thing.

"Whatever happened in the past was the past and it doesn't really matter now.

"We're just looking forward to going somewhere new and getting another European adventure and hopefully getting the performance we need to win."

Chick knew he was coming to Saints by the time they reached the Champions Cup final.

And he said: "I did watch the final. It was a good game of rugby.

"I thought the Saints played really well.

"Bordeaux won on the day, and fair credit to them.

"We're going there just looking forward to playing and hopefully putting in a performance that we can be proud of.

"I said it when I moved here and I still say it now: one of the main reasons I came to Northampton was to win things.

"Watching them get to the European final, seeing them win the PREM the year previous to that, that's one of the reasons why I came here: to be part of those occasions and hopefully get the opportunity to do the same things."