The big interview: Tom Vickers talks to Saints forward Robbie Smith

Those are the words of Robbie Smith, who certainly didn't take what happened at Bath for granted for a single second.

Instead, alongside physio Nathan Allwork, who played a big part in his recovery from a serious knee injury, he soaked up a special night at The Rec.

Smith started and shone as Saints secured a superb 41-21 success, moving to the top of the Gallagher PREM standings at the end of 2025.

It was a huge moment for the hooker on a journey that has seen him overcome the events of last October, when he suffered the injury that required three separate surgeries.

And when asked whether the win at Bath had made all his hard work in rehab worth it, Smith said: "The physio, Nath, said that to me after the game. I was actually quite emotional when he said that.

"For me, it feels like a long, long time ago now – this time last year I couldn’t walk, so that puts it into perspective a little bit.

"To get a win like that against guys that did pretty well last year is a nice feeling.

"That is the best win I’ve had away from home, ever, and it will take a bit of beating, I think, especially with it happening at Christmas time."

Smith insists Saints were always confident they could win at champions Bath, despite making 10 changes to the team that beat Sale on the previous weekend.

"We spoke all week about a free shot to go down there, a lot of lads getting an opportunity going down against one the best club sides that there is and giving them a good go at it," Smith said.

"I think the way we played and the way the week goes in training and the buzz around it, having some time off with each other at Christmas time and then mucking in together at the weekend, was unreal.

"There was total belief. We believed in ourselves as a team, but you have to rotate players, people need a rest.

"There are guys here that have played a lot of rugby both internationally and for the club at the start of the season, so there are no illusions that boys need a rest.

"The guys that were rested had played a lot of rugby, but I think it shows the strength in depth we’ve got at the club and competition for places that the next guy in knows that there’s a job to do in there.

"There was never really a feeling of nerves around it, it was more excitement and ‘right, it’s my turn to get the job done’.

"We’re in a real good place and we’re excited to see what happens going forward."

With Christmas Day falling during the middle of the week in the build-up to the trip to Bath, Smith and some of his team-mates got the chance to bond off the pitch.

"It (Christmas Day) is very similar to a normal day, to be honest," Smith said. "Before we play, we look to eat a lot of food anyway, so it’s just having a normal Christmas – I mean, you don’t have any beers which isn’t as great, but it’s just a normal day.

"I didn’t get to go home back to Scotland, so there was a group of us: myself, Anthony Belleau, James Ramm, Chicky (Callum Chick) and Furbs (George Furbank).

"We all had Christmas with girlfriends together at Rammy’s house, so that was nice.

"We all had a bit of food, played some games and it was just a normal sort of day off for us, and it was nice for us to spend a bit of time together off the field.

"We've got a good group off the field and on the field. I think the feeling amongst the lads is we’re not just colleagues, we’re actually really good mates as well and we enjoying playing with each other and training with each other but also spending time together away from rugby, which is the sign of a good team."

Smith and Co will now look to use that team spirit to help them see off Harlequins in a sold-out clash at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday (kick-off 5.30pm).

"Quins have come off the back of a couple of results that haven’t gone their way but they’re a dangerous team," Smith said.

"They’ve got some decent operators in their side and almost the fact that they’re hurting is probably even more dangerous for us that we can’t let them play too much of a free-flowing game, because they are good at that.

"We’ve got to make sure that we’ve had our fun – we celebrated last week, but it’s on to the next one now."

Saints go from big underdogs to big favourites this week so are the players feeling extra pressure to perform?

"There are different ways of looking at it," Smith said. "There are a lot of guys rested last week who have sat at home, enjoyed Christmas and watched us go away and get the win and watched the guys who came in and got a shot play really well.

"I’d imagine from those guys there’s an expectation of ‘bloody hell, I’ve got to show why I got rested’, which is good because it means there’s constantly that competition and we’re constantly driving each other forward.

"It would have been easy for us to lie down last week, in a rotated team at Christmas time away to Bath, and roll over but I think the fact we got the win and there were so many strong performances is just going to drive us on and kick us through the next few games."

Smith and Craig Wright have stepped up at hooker in the absence of Curtis Langdon, who is yet to play so far this season after recovering from surgery during the summer.

And Smith, who has made 10 appearances so far this season, said: "Obviously, Curt has unfortunately had an injury which he’s working hard to get back from. It’s given an opportunity for me and Craig to compete as much as we can for getting minutes, which I feel has been class for both of us.

"Craig is a young guy and he’s come on unbelievably since I got here. We sort of arrived at the same time and I think in the games he’s had he’s played unbelievably well, which is only driving me on.

"Hopefully I’m driving him on and hopefully soon enough we’ll see Curt back and it will all go up a gear.

"We’re in a good spot at the minute and I’m enjoying that battle."

Competition for places continues to hot up at Saints.

And Smith said: "Every single week, you don’t have a clue if you’re going to be named on that team-sheet, never mind starting.

"You don’t know if you’re going to be named in the 23, which makes training so competitive and so difficult but that’s the best way to drive the team forward.

"We’ve had our best performances off the back of having training weeks where the Wandies side, as we call the guys who aren’t playing, have almost trained better than the starting side.

"(Saints coach) James Craig always talks about iron sharpening iron, so it’s that sort of competitive element of having it the whole week then when you get to the game day it’s almost like you’ve got to throw out what you’ve put in during the week."