'I loved it!' - Saints No.8 Graham savoured 'brilliant opportunity' against Quins

The No.8 was given the captaincy for the PREM Rugby Cup clash and marked the occasion with a try in a 26-17 win at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens.

It was only Graham's fourth appearance since he suffered a season-ending knee injury in a game at Leicester Tigers last October.

And he savoured the chance to be Saints skipper.

"It's not the first time I've led the team but this one probably means a bit more, especially with the last season and a half I've had," said Graham, who has now made as many appearances and scored as many tries this season as he did last season.

"It was a brilliant opportunity for me and I loved it!

"It was a great group and we had a fantastic week of prep with a lot of guys who are just hungry to get out on the pitch. That energy is contagious.

"It almost takes you back to being a kid again, playing your first game.

"I said to the boys before the game that there's a lot of nervous energy and excitement, which is a great place for us to be in, but you'll never forget running out under the lights at Franklin's Gardens because it's a truly special place.

"Thankfully we got a win, which makes it that much better."

Graham was one of the senior figures on the field for a Saints side that blended youth with experience to good effect.

And he said: "I guess I'm more of a senior player now - weirdly one of the older players in the squad at 28, which is ridiculous.

"Tony (Belleau) is a brilliant leader so he takes a lot of pressure off.

"We've also got someone like TT (Toby Thame), a young guy with a massive voice, a great leader.

"We've got Chunya (Munga), Prowsey (Ed Prowse) so it's not like I'm doing all the work.

"Those boys are a fantastic leadership group and they really led the team well."

Graham was delighted with the way the Saints squad stepped up to claim a bonus-point win against Quins, but he was far from surprised.

"These guys have been training together as a group for the last however many weeks and haven't been in the 23 for the PREM games but they're still getting better every day," he said.

"It's not like we're just chucked together for one week. We've had a long period training together and I felt like we were really well prepared for the game. I think we showed that in moments.

"It was a bit scrappy at times and of course there's loads to get better at, which is exciting because there's a massive ceiling.

"Shout out to (Saints debutant) Tommy Rowe, who has come in, a young guy, 18 at Loughborough Uni and his first touch of the ball he scores in the corner at Franklin's Gardens.

"What's better than that?"

One frustration on the evening for Saints was the sluggish nature of the contest.

"We've come to know the way us as Saints want to play - we want to play high tempo, but unfortunately that was kind of taken out of our hands," Graham said.

"But I think when we did get the opportunity to put tempo on them, we did.

"We can't control the opposition messing about at scrum time, we can only control what we're doing.

"It was slow at times, but I think we proved just how dangerous we were when we got what we wanted."

Saints will now take a weekend off before returning to action with another home cup clash, against Newcastle Red Bulls, on November 15.

And Graham said: "It's the first time off since my wedding so me and my wife are going down to Devon for a few days.

"It's not the honeymoon, it's just a few days together, which is going to be unbelievable, so I'm looking forward to that.

"It's been a long, hard road getting back to playing so now is a good time to have a bit of a mental refresh.

"Physically I feel great, mentally it will be good to sharpen up because we've got a massive block coming up and I'm so excited to see where we go."