Check out our 2026/27 season preview for Northampton saints, as they look to defend the Prem title for the first time in their history.
Having lifted their third Prem title last season and a second in three years, Northampton Saints now face the task of making it back-to-back titles for the first time in their history.
Alongside this, the Saints have also gone deep in the European Rugby Champions Cup each season for the last few years, including reaching the final in 2024/25, highlighting the level that they have performed at for a number of years.
With an exceptional squad that is filled to the brim with club produced internationals, the Saints will be a tough team to stop from marching towards the title once more.
In what is set to be an exciting campaign for the defending champions, let's preview their upcoming Prem season.
Key Question
Can Northampton hold on to their key stars in spite of the salary cap?
Having already secured the long term futures of Fin Smith and Henry Pollock - more on him later - Northampton's main challenge for the season is keeping hold of the rest of their internationals.
With the way the salary cap works, club trained and produced players can be hard to keep hold of, given that they will take up an increasing percentage of the cap, the better they become.
This means that tough choices are sometimes required - personified by George Furbank's exit to join Harlequins this summer - and this could lead to a small exodus of stars away from the Saints.
A growing trend has seen players depart English shores for opportunities across the Channel in France, where there is no salary cap and pay can be lucrative, making it hard for Prem clubs to retain their best players.
If Northampton can cement the long term future of their key players, they have the spine of a team to compete for major honours for the next decade.
Key Signing
Henry Pollock's new contract
While this may be a bit of a cop out, Northampton's best piece of business this summer has been the retention of young star Henry Pollock.
The Saints haven't made any significant signings this summer, focusing mostly on keeping what they had and - for the most part - they have been successful in this.
Under the advisement of Eddie Hearn, Pollock's future had been the subject of much media speculation across the summer, with the Matchroom promoter even going as far as to publicly demand a £1m-a-year salary to remain in the East Midlands.
One of rugby's highest profile players, Pollock's influence on and off the field would have been almost impossible for the Saints to replace, meaning that retaining him was that much more important.
Bold Prediction
Northampton Saints will not reach the Prem final
Having featured at two of the last three Prem Grand Finals, many expect Northampton Saints to be at this season's showpiece.
However, question marks over the futures of a number of key players in the squad could prove to be a distraction as the season progresses and could therefore impact their ability to reach this season's final.
A number of other Prem sides are beginning to build strong foundations and this increased competition will make it harder than ever for teams to compete at the competition's main event.
All going well, Northampton Saints should feature in the final again this season, however most would have said that about Bath Rugby at the beginning of the 2025/26 campaign.
Season Odds
Odds will display when markets are available and odds written in this article were correct at the time of writing and are subject to change.
