Saints coaches hoping Boxing Day debrief will stand team in good stead

And they are now hoping that the Boxing Day chat over a turkey sandwich will help to satisfy the appetite of the club's supporters when Harlequins come calling on Sunday.

Saints suffered three defeats in as many matches during a disappointing December and they will now look to bounce back at the start of 2023.

The players and coaches got some time to take stock after the loss to Munster earlier this month as they got Christmas off due to the nature of the Gallagher Premiership schedule.

And assistant coach Ferguson said: "One of the things that was really refreshing after that Munster game was that Dows (Saints boss Phil Dowson) sent us away as a coaching group and asked us to come up with some focuses for our area in the next five or six games.

"Going week to week, you put out one fire against La Rochelle and then you're straight into another fire against Munster so you don't actually get a whole chunk of time to sit back and helicopter view your area.

"We all got together on Boxing Day over a turkey sandwich and talked about some of our findings.

"There was two strong themes that led throughout it and the first was that we're the highest ranked team in the league in opposition 22 entries, so we're getting into the opposition 22 more than any other team but clearly not coming away with enough points to win games, which was the same in that Munster game.

"One of the reasons we're not doing that is that we're allowing teams the chance to get out too easily with cheap penalties and unnecessary poor discipline, then we're banging at the door to get back in there.

"The overriding themes were our execution in that red zone and our ability not to give away cheap possession.

"I'm pretty convinced if we get those two things right over a long period of time, we won't find it hard to score points."

Harlequins will come into this weekend's game on the back of a narrow 15-12 defeat at home to Bristol Bears on Tuesday.

And Ferguson knows just what a threat Sunday’s opposition will pose.

"One of the things you know about Harlequins is that at any stage from anywhere, they could hurt you," Ferguson said.

"We've talked about staying alive for 80, but also staying alive anywhere on the pitch.

"You saw from their game on Tuesday that they could have won it multiple times, right up to 80 minutes.

"In terms of the quality they bring, that will be right on par with what we got from Munster.

"Our frustration against Munster was that we didn't convert the pressure and Munster's defence won that one.

"You know that Quins are going to come at you with an attacking game so we need to be aware and we've talked about that this week."

Saints are currently seven points behind Quins and will be desperate to close the gap on New Year's Day.

"Both teams will want to first and foremost win the game, and that will be important for us both," Ferguson said.

"Our home record has been strong this season and that's because the boys love playing here and it's something we hold very dear.

"It will be a packed house on New Year's Day with people ending the festive period with their family and it's something that Luds (Lewis Ludlam) has spoken about already - how excited the boys are to get out and play.

"The fact we both play a more expansive rugby, that will only happen if we do the basics well.

"We've got to make sure when we get those chances to score, we take those points and we stay alive to stop them getting cheap scores.

"The game we played at Quins was a highlight in some areas."