Saints Q&A: Tom Vickers talks to influential No.8 Callum Chick

They welcome Cardiff to DPD Stadium at Franklin's Gardens for a 5.30pm kick-off in what is their only Investec Champions Cup game until December.

Phil Dowson's men then face the prospect of travelling to Paris to take on Stade Français before two more matches, at Montpellier and at home to Vodacom Bulls arrive in January.

And with such little margin for error during the pool stages, every match matters hugely.

This week, we sat down with influential Saints No.8 Callum Chick to reflect on last Saturday's stunning 71-48 Gallagher PREM success against Bath and preview what lies ahead in Europe.

Q: Callum, good to see you. What are your thoughts ahead of the match at home to Cardiff this weekend?

A: "It's a change of competition for us and Dows (Saints boss Phil Dowson) likes to speak about the journey we get to go on in the Champions Cup.

"In the past few years we've gone quite deep into the tournament and it's an opportunity to play new teams, play in new places and take that all onboard and enjoy it because you don't always get those opportunities."

Q: How important is it to win this weekend?

A: "Being at home and playing against Cardiff who are going pretty well in the URC (United Rugby Championship), hopefully we can get a big five points but we won't really look at the outcome because we're very much performance-based.

"If we put the performance we can put on the field we should hopefully win the game so that is the main focus for us going into this weekend."

Q: Phil Dowson says he was most pleased with the defence late on against Bath last weekend. Is that something you would echo?

A: "It's something we've spoken a lot about during pre-season and the early part of the season.

"In that first half, it probably wasn't at the level we needed to be at and we probably weren't giving it the respect it needed in defence - it was you score, we score, you score, we score.

"We back ourselves to score more tries than anyone but we don't want to put ourselves in that position.

"Going into that second half, it was about how we could make it hard for them to score and you definitely saw that.

"In a period, they scored one try and we scored four - and that all came off the back of good defensive sets."

Q: Did you notice how strong the Bath bench was when you were building up to the game?

A: "I don't really do a huge amount of preview or review to be honest - I'm very much focused on my own game.

"To be fair to Saints, it's very much like that as well because we're huge advocates of how we perform dictates how the game will go.

"If we can get a 70 per cent performance out of everyone then we'll be a match to win every game.

"They obviously came with this 'bomb squad' but I actually thought our bench came on and did a better job and they actually changed the game for us."

Q: How happy were you with the belief you showed as a team to keep fighting back against Bath?

A: "It's testament to the group.

"We had a lot of conversations during pre-season around positions we may find ourselves in and how we come back from that, but also it's lived experience because in many games last year we were down with five minutes to go or down two scores and we go away and end up winning it.

"Those lived experiences equate to a lot because you can't really train or prepare someone for that. As a group, that's helped us.

"We want to win better and in the end we did win well last weekend, but it's about how we can have an 80-minute performance where we can just blow a team away rather than giving them opportunities."

Q: We saw the likes of Alex Mitchell, James Pater and Tommy Freeman doing some important breakdown work last weekend…

A: "It's about time, isn't it?

"I've only been here just over a year but it's the first time I've seen it so it's good to see!"

Q: How special is the Champions Cup for Saints?

A: "It's hugely special.

"Before coming here, being at Newcastle, we didn't get a huge amount of opportunities.

"I played Toulon and Montpellier while I was at Newcastle and the build-up and playing in those matches was incredible.

"Getting the opportunity now and going into this competition is a slight refresh.

"We can really go and enjoy it and just get stuck in."

Q: What do you make of Cardiff?

A: "Something we always speak about is that it doesn't really matter who turns up here or when we go away who we're playing against.

"Obviously we'll look at their trends and what they like to do but it's very much about how we can get our game on the field, how we can play fast, how we can put our game on them. If we do that, they'll be struggling."

Q: What kind of style of game are you expecting this weekend?

A: "Teams are now looking to throw the ball around, get tries and bonus points etc but we know Welsh teams at their core are going to be physical and they're going to have a set piece.

"We can't move away from the core of the game, especially as a forward group.

"We have to make sure our set piece is right and it's contact sport so you have to get that right to give yourself an opportunity."