Saints star Biggar has missed the matchday buzz

Biggar dotted down after receiving an Alex Mitchell pass and roared with delight before being mobbed by his jubilant team-mates.

Saints went on to win the game 29-10, snapping a 12-game losing streak in the process.

And it was clear just how much it meant to Biggar, a man who has taken Northampton to his heart after moving from the Ospreys in the summer of 2018.

He has often spoken about how enjoyable it is to play in front of such passionate fans at Franklin’s Gardens.

But since last March, Saints have only been able to welcome supporters to their home once, and even then it was only 2,000 people.

Rugby is again back behind closed doors due to Covid-19, and Biggar admits he is missing the buzz of matchdays full of fans so much.

"The first thing to say is that it’s the same for every team and every player so there are no excuses," said the fly-half, who is available to face Gloucester on Saturday, despite training with Wales during the early part of the week..

"But there is definitely an element of it because I’m a fairly emotional player and I feed off the positivity or negativity of the crowd and I did find it particularly difficult.

"It felt like they were training matches at the start and it was very difficult to really get into the games when things were so quiet and different to what we were used to.

"It’s been about trying to find a way to get through that and get used to it.

"It didn’t help when we first came back that we had a lot of changing around of the team and we almost picked two teams.

"With the amount of swapping and changing, it didn’t help things, but us as players were well below the bar of where we needed to be.

"But coming back into the environment after the break, I really enjoyed it and we were unlucky against Bordeaux because on every other day we’d have won that game by 20 or 25 points.

"When you’re down, you’re down, but it was really good to get that win against Worcester on Boxing Day and it was a little bit disappointing not to be able to continue that small bit of momentum we’d built up."

After a fantastic rise under the stewardship of boss Chris Boyd in 2019, Saints stuttered badly in 2020.

They won just six of their 23 games in the calendar year, slipping down the Premiership standings.

And Biggar says he and his team-mates felt such pain as they felt they were letting their club and its people down.

"It was very, very difficult and the biggest thing for me was the feeling of disappointment towards the club and the people associated with it," said the 31-year-old.

"We’re the face of the club when we go out there for 80 minutes at a weekend and there were far too many good players in the squad for us to carry on with that form.

"Since we came back from the first lockdown, we just couldn’t get anywhere near the standards we previously set.

"You feel like you’re trying a bit too hard rather than sticking with what’s worked for us as a team over the past 18 months.

"It has been very hard to get used to.

"Franklin’s Gardens is certainly the best ground in the Premiership and we’ve got the best pitch so teams who come to our place are given a pretty hostile greeting from the crowd but teams haven’t had that.

"They’ve come to the Gardens and the facilities are really good compared to some of the places where we’ve been, changing in Covid conditions.

"We went down to Exeter and we were basically in a pop-up tent for a European quarter-final so the facilities we’ve got at home and the pitch are probably meaning teams are enjoying coming to the Gardens.

"It has been frustrating but the biggest thing is the disappointment that we’ve felt like we’ve been putting in below-par performances for all the good people at the club, including the supporters obviously.

"We’ve got to take it on the chin because when we play well we get praise and when we don’t, we’ve got to take it."

Biggar was widely seen as Saints’ player of the season before rugby went into lockdown during the 2019/20 season, but he admits it has been tough to hit those heights since.

So does he feel extra pressure as he is one of the more experienced and one of the biggest names in the Saints squad?

"Not on an individual basis, but when you look at the age profile of the squad, maybe there is a bit more on us to lead and produce," he said.

"But before lockdown there wasn’t too much talk of myself, Courtney (Lawes), Owen (Franks) and boys like that because we were winning and things were rosy in the Gardens.

"When you are losing, you look to the bigger players to produce and from a team point of view everyone had fallen short.

"There’s not extra pressure for me in terms of that, the pressure I feel is because I care about this club a huge amount.

"I want this club to do extremely well because there are a lot of good people involved in it, including the supporters who have welcomed me and my family with open arms.

"I don’t see any pressure on myself for being a big player because I’m a cog in a wheel on a Saturday and everyone in the team has got to click for you to do your bit as well."

Saints have not played since the win against Worcester last month as their following two fixtures were cancelled due to Covid-19 problems.

The Champions Cup was then suspended, meaning matches against Leinster and Bordeaux didn’t take place.

Premiership Rugby opted not to move league fixtures forward to fill the void, instead opting to take a two-week break, citing the need for everyone to take a well-earned rest.

And when asked about the break from action, Biggar said: "I’m not particularly sure it’s what we would have wanted after having a couple of games called off beforehand.

"If you’re a side who have had two or three tough games on the bounce and you’re battered with injuries and stuff like that, it’s probably come at a good time to freshen up.

"It depends what boat you’re in but generally it would have maybe been difficult to swap games over for last weekend but possibly it could have been brought a week forward.

"We’re a very small cog in this and there could be advice that is completely different so we have to go with their guidance and safety is paramount.

"It depends what boat you’re in whether this couple of weeks off will benefit or hinder you."