The big interview: Tom Vickers talks to Saints and England ace Alex Mitchell

The Saints scrum-half looked understandably downbeat as he sat on the sidelines after having to come off during England's Nations Championship clash with Fiji in Liverpool.

And it wasn't even as though he had got the chance to start the game, biding his time on the bench before being introduced early in the second half.

His cameo was to be cut short by another hamstring injury, a problem that has plagued him in recent times.

He suffered a hamstring injury while playing for England against Ireland during the Guinness Six Nations, returned to Saints action, suffered another hamstring injury, on the other leg, with England at a training camp, returned to Saints action and then suffered another hamstring injury playing for England against Fiji.

However, in between all that, Mitchell did at least get some joy as he came off the bench during the formative stages of the Gallagher PREM final to help Saints claim league title glory for the second time in three seasons.

And having had some time off following that England experience during the summer, he has been working hard to strengthen his body for the challenges ahead this season.

Mitchell was left out of England's latest training squad with club and country very aware of the need to manage him with the new league campaign just around the corner.

"It was right (hamstring), left, right, both similar parts of the hamstring and we've figured out in the off-season and pre-season that I've got a bit of weakness in my lower hamstrings but we've got a great physio and S&C (strength and conditioning) department here at Saints so they're stronger than they were before now," Mitchell explained.

"It's good to identify that weakness and get them sorted.

"I've had no surgery. February might have been a longer injury with it being 10-plus weeks, but luckily enough I didn't have to go under the knife at any point."

After celebrating Saints' title success in June, Mitchell and several of his club-mates headed to camp to prepare for England's trip to South Africa.

They then returned home to face Fiji before travelling to Argentina for the final leg of the summer action, though Mitchell was unable to go on the trip to take on Los Pumas due to the hamstring problem.

"I actually only ended up missing the last week, in Argentina, but I enjoyed the tour," the hugely talented scrum-half said.

"It was amazing to get to go to South Africa, a lot of travel but I obviously picked up that little niggle against Fiji so I missed the last game.

"But it's part and parcel, a few boys picked up niggles, but it was still a good tour.

"Obviously I was just frustrated because you never want to pick up an injury like that, especially after just coming back, but coming back early two or three times is obviously going to impact your body a bit.

"I was a bit devastated at the time but then when I realised it was the end of the season and everyone has five weeks off it was actually not too bad and I was actually in a better place than I thought I was.

"It was frustrating at the time because I wanted to play the last game, but I only ended up missing that one."

Mitchell laughs as he talks about being one of the more senior members of the Saints squad heading into the new season.

"I think I'm going into my 12th year now and I think I'm the third oldest because we've got such a young squad," said the 29-year-old.

"Trev (Davison), Hutch (Rory Hutchinson), me and Chicky (Callum Chick) are the oldest but I'm still in my 20s so I'm not even that old!

"But I'm really excited for the season ahead and it's always good to get a bit of a break away from rugby so you appreciate it a bit more.

"I'm very excited to get into a new season and show what we can do."

Saints are desperate to back up their PREM win, eager to enjoy a much better title defence than during the 2024/25 campaign, when an injury-hit season ended in an eight-placed league finish.

"We had a fantastic year in 2024, then in 2025 we were a bit inconsistent and a bit frustrated with our form, but last season we showed we've got the players and the coaching staff to do it," Mitchell said.

"We've just got to appreciate we've got to work at it, week in, week out through the tough months of winter.

"We've got to keep working and getting better and better - and I think we've got that mindset now."

Having won two PREM titles in the space of three years and reached an Investec Champions Cup final in between the league crowns, there is no doubt that this has been one of the best eras in the history of Northampton Saints.

But the players know they can't afford to think too much about that, preferring to focus on the future as they bid to squeeze every ounce of joy out of this current squad's ability.

"You've got to focus on the future because once we've finished we can look back and enjoy our experiences," Mitchell said.

"Obviously you enjoy it at the time and the PREM final was an amazing experience that evening and the next day with the bus tour.

"We had a good time after it but people forget about it pretty quickly and you want to build a bit of a legacy and a dynasty here, not just winning it once or twice but going back to back and winning more trophies.

"It's definitely something we want to try to do."