Francis fired up for Sale clash after being floored by Covid-19

That was the forthright take of Piers Francis who admits there will be 'a point to prove' at Sale on Friday night after he and some of his team-mates were floored by Covid-19 last month.

Francis tested positive and was laid up in bed for five days following Saints' meeting with a Sharks side who eventually registered a whopping 27 positive tests for the virus.

It meant the centre was forced to miss out on an England camp, with Saints team-mate Lewis Ludlam suffering the same fate.

And, understandably, Francis hasn't been able to forget what happened in the wake of his side's 34-14 defeat to Sale at Franklin's Gardens on September 29.

Speaking ahead of this Friday's Gallagher Premiership season opener against the Sharks at the AJ Bell Stadium, Francis, who has now fully recovered, said: "With the Covid situation around that last game, I think we've got something to prove.

"I was affected by it so if there's any motivation needed, there's a little one there.

"For me personally, I picked up Covid and it prevented me from going to an England camp.

"I was in bed for five days with it and had to isolate with it so from a personal perspective I feel like I was impacted.

"From what I've been told, I could have potentially picked it up from a supermarket as much as one of the 19 who were playing for Sale, so who knows where I got it from?

"It does seem a little ironic if I'm honest so interpret that how you like.

"Me getting Covid seven days after the game, I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to work that one out."

When asked how badly Covid hit him, Francis, who was a second-half replacement in the game against Sale, said: "It knocked me and I was in bed for four or five days so it got me initially.

"I seem to have had no lasting effects of it.

"I had that period and it was like when you've had the flu and you don't exercise for a bit so I was just trying to get back into that.

"I feel like it's in the past for me now and I'm just eager to get some games under the belt."

Francis had recovered well from his bout of Covid, so well in fact that he smashed the record in Saints' gruelling annual pre-season test of fitness and endurance.

The Blakiston Challenge takes its name from Saints great and First World War hero, Sir Arthur 'Freddie' Blakiston, who was awarded the Military Cross in 1918, having risked his own life to save numerous others under heavy fire.

And Francis was the man who prevailed in the Challenge, beating the record set by centre Reuben Bird-Tulloch from a year earlier.

"It was good fun," Francis said.

"It was hard work but nice to top the leaderboard.

"It was tough but I actually had a couple of days off before that so I was probably a bit fresher than most of the boys.

"It was nice to get the win and I don't mind a bit of running.

"I knocked a good minute or so off the record, which Reuben (Bird-Tulloch) set last year so it was nice to duck under that.

"Off the back of having Covid, it was nice to see the body is still operating as I'd like."

Francis has been hugely unfortunate with injuries since joining Saints from Super Rugby side the Blues in 2017, and contracting Covid was the latest in a long line of challenges for him.

"I can't say I've had the smoothest of runs in the past 12 months or so in particular but these are the challenges that keep testing you," said the 30-year-old.

"I can tick that one off and hopefully there's no lasting effects.

"Globally, hopefully we can shove it under the mat and get on with things."

Francis looked strong and sharp in Saints' pre-season outing against Worcester Warriors at Franklin's Gardens last Friday.

And he said: "Like a lot of boys, although last season didn't finish too long ago, it was just nice to get a bit of game time under my belt.

"You can do all the training you want - and it has been tough training - but matchdays are a lot different and it was good to get an hour under my belt and get back to playing some real footy.

"It was much needed."

The centre pairing of Francis and New Zealand ace Matt Proctor certainly caught the eye, with both players putting in some big hits.

"Matty's a good player and I feel good playing with him," Francis said.

"It's up to Boydy (Saints boss Chris Boyd) to choose the partnerships but we're a strong group as whole in terms of the centres and we all enjoy each other's company.

"We all respect each other's skills and it's up to the coaches to see which partnerships complement each other the best.

"I enjoy playing alongside Matty and hopefully we can strike up a partnership and get the Saints ship going in the direction we want."

Francis and Proctor have both spent plenty of time playing in Super Rugby.

And Francis added: "He's a very cool character and he doesn't overtalk, but you don't need that - you need decisiveness, which is what he brings.

"He's a good footballer and it's nice to play alongside him and hopefully we can get things going on Friday night.

"We both pride ourselves on defence and that's really going to have to come to the forefront on Friday because they're notoriously a big side with a big midfield.

"It's up to us to try to stop that as much as we can.

"We both enjoy that defensive side of the game a lot and it was nice to do that last Friday.

"Now we need to step it up again and bring that this Friday."

Saints lost 13 of 14 matches before being forced to forfeit their Gallagher Premiership final-day game at Gloucester last season due to the Covid saga.

And Francis insists he and his team-mates are hopeful they can start their recovery at the AJ Bell Stadium this week.

"We've addressed that last couple of games that weren't good enough from our perspective and we've worked on the things that weren't quite up to scratch," Francis said.

"We need to make those a lot better this Friday.

"We know we weren't good enough in that last group of games and it's a good opportunity to right the wrongs."