Northampton have spent three weeks on their plan to beat Saracens

No team in the history of the Premiership play-offs has prepared for a season-defining semi-final without a competitive match in three weeks. Yet, having last played a league match on April 21 - a 66-5 demolition of Newcastle at Kingston Park - that is exactly the scenario faced by Phil Dowson and the rest of his Saints coaches, with Saracens at the StoneX Stadium steaming into view next Saturday.

The odds are stacked against the visitors: Saracens have not lost at home in either the Premiership or Europe this season; Northampton have not won in Barnet since October 2019, pre-salary-cap scandal, nor have they won a Premiership semi-final since clinching the title in 2014; and there have been only six away winners in play-off history.

Yet, Northampton believe. There is no sense of a free hit, with the goal for the season to go one better than last, when Saints lost in the play-offs to eventual champions Leicester. Northampton will head down the M1 with victory on their minds.

"There's pressure on this group because we finished fourth last year under [Chris Boyd] and one of the things we wanted was to go one better," Dowson says.

"We know what we're capable of - now, can we execute and perform on the day? The way Saracens play now is totally different to the traditional 'way' that they would play. They probably don't get enough credit for how they play.

"We've had to make sure that in the players' heads they don't just think it's the 'Saracens way' because that is constantly evolving, particularly how they move the ball off counter-attack."

While the lack of competitive rugby over the past fortnight could be considered a drawback, it has afforded Dowson the time to meticulously plan for their do-or-die fixture. With two friendlies against Leicester dotted within that three-week period, the Northampton director of rugby has been able to concoct his own masterplan to topple the league leaders on their own patch.

"'Masterplan' might be a bit strong," Dowson says. "The first week was almost like a decompression after those two high-pressure games - Newcastle and Sarries - in which we did a lot of good stuff. We had a social and we played Leicester here in a friendly, which was a really good opportunity for guys to get 40 minutes of game time - both first and second-choicers. That first week was game time, getting ourselves set for the next two weeks.

"Then last week was all about us, to a degree, without it being overtly about Saracens. There are elements of our game that we're working on and trying to get better at, certain things that we're not good enough at - but, also, things that are going to threaten us from a Sarries point of view.

"They don't want to hear about Saracens all day, every day, but the stuff we're training is relevant to the game this Saturday. Then next week will be our regular training week. 'The spotlight is on Saracens, here's what we're going to do, and this is why we're practising this'. All that work, that underlying base work, has already been done and we can just be really sharp next week. That's the 'masterplan'."

The running theme at the start of this fallow period has been clear - not peaking too soon.

"One of the things we've been conscious of is managing intensity, in terms of how much collision we take, and energy," he says. "If we spend three weeks just talking about Saracens, the lads are going to get so bored of it, and they'll become stale. They'll be ready to play the game in the second week, as opposed to the third week.

"Sam [Vesty, attack coach] will put a launch-play sheet together, of stuff we think is going to hurt them. Sometimes that works really efficiently and sometimes it doesn't. 'We think this defender will be here so we're going to target x, y and z and we're going to go on this pattern of play'. You have all these plans and then that guy doesn't get picked and you go, 'Ah well, that's not going to work'. But maybe you just run it anyway, and you trust that the players can see space. That's what Sam coaches - our ability to see space and put the ball into it.

"There'll definitely be stuff we're trying to identify and get after, but that's no different to any other week."

After a unique fortnight, a week of normality stands between Northampton and a first Premiership final since 2014.