Odendaal insists he still has a point to prove after impressive start at Saints

That has very much been the mantra of Burger Odendaal, who has seen huge occasions as chances to show everyone at Saints what he is made of.

The South African centre enjoyed a frustrating start to life at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens as he arrived from Japan with a shoulder problem.

He then suffered a hamstring issue, meaning he couldn't make his debut for the black, green and gold until December 30.

But he wasted little time in delivering a full display of his ability as he shone on his first appearance, against Sale Sharks.

He has since hit the heights in games against the likes of Munster and, most recently, the Gallagher Premiership play-off semi-final against Saracens.

And Odendaal said: "I'm just grateful to be part of this team.

"The start of my career with Northampton was really tough with injuries so I'm just grateful to be back and playing with the boys.

"I still feel like every game I play I still need to prove myself to the team and it's not a bad mindset to have because it just brings out the best in me.

"I don't want to let any of the boys down, even the boys not playing.

"I don't want to let anyone down and I'm really just grateful.

"We've got great competition within the squad and that really helped during the whole season with performances.

"Some guys have been unlucky with injuries, other guys have got an opportunity and put their hand up."

Odendaal has added an extra edge to Saints' centre positions, forming a formidable partnership with Fraser Dingwall.

The duo started together last Friday as Saints beat Saracens 22-20 to secure a place in Saturday's Gallagher Premiership final.

Odendaal scored a fine try against the champions as he added to his increasing highlights reel.

And he is certainly relishing being on the big stage with Saints.

"Munster away was probably one of the highlights of the season but going to Croke Park, we said we had a bit of a slow start," Odendaalsaid.

"Going to Twickenham to play against Quins, we let ourselves down a bit.

"This weekend, there's a lot of lessons we could have learned throughout the season and hopefully that helps us for the big final this weekend."

Odendaal started in Saints' defeat at Bath last month.

And when asked what he and his team-mates can learn from that difficult day at The Rec, he said: "You definitely pick up a few things.

"It might be a different personnel playing for us this weekend but you can definitely pick up the way they play and what they want to do during the game.

"It's something we've focused on and we want to try to rectify mistakes we made in that previous game during this week's training."

The support that Saints get from their fans has not gone unnoticed by a man who is coming to the end of his first season at the Gardens.

And when asked whether the club is bigger than he anticipated when he agreed to sign, Odendaal said: "It's definitely bigger.

"Even though it's just a 15,000-capacity stadium, every time we play at the Gardens, it's an awesome atmosphere.

"The supporters really get behind us in every single game.

"Playing at Twickenham, I won't say it was a dream of mine growing up because coming from South Africa, you don't dream of playing at Twickenham but playing at the HQ of rugby is going to be an awesome experience.

"It's definitely going to be the biggest crowd I've played in front of in my whole career so that's something I will try to cherish."