Lee Radford adding steel to Northampton defence after being forged by Hull rivalry

Lee Radford might just be the Premiership’s signing of the season. Northampton’s new defence coach arrived from rugby league with a remit to give Saints steel to go with their swagger.

Last season Northampton boasted the league’s best attack but also the second-worst defence. Only bottom side Newcastle Falcons conceded more points and tries. They duly suffered a 38-15 blowout away to Saracens in the play-off semi-finals.

Radford was under no illusions about Saints’ reputation for flakiness. “From day one, every presentation I have been seen, every meeting I have sat through, every interview I have heard, it is the same thing: they can attack, but they can’t defend,” Radford said. “I wanted to change that. If you ask what Northampton are about, people will say attack. By the end of the season, I want people to say they’re pretty resilient, tough to play against.”

Radford says that they are still taking “baby steps” in that process but already Northampton appear a side transformed from last season. Two weeks ago, Saints returned to Saracens’ StoneX Stadium to end the English champions’ five-game win streak with a gritty 18-12 victory.

Then last week, they made 188 tackles to deny Glasgow Warriors, who are second in the United Rugby Championship, a bonus point in a 28-19 win in the pouring rain at Scotstoun.

In every metric, Northampton’s defence has improved. They are conceding nine points less per game than last season, allowing 10 per cent fewer gain-line successes and improving their defensive red zone efficiency by 16 per cent. More impressive still is the sight test. Against both Saracens and Glasgow, Northampton dominated the physical exchanges, which they have not managed for years against stronger opposition.

‘There’s no cheat code – it’s just hard work’

Radford has a wealth of experience as a rugby league coach, winning the Challenge Cup with Hull in 2016 and 2017, and was Samoa’s defence coach when they reached the 2022 World Cup final. Before becoming the latest league coach to switch codes, he spoke to Shaun Edwards, Kevin Sinfield and Mike Forshaw, the defence coaches of France, England and Wales respectively. He has also been on factfinding missions to other sports, but claims there is no great mystery to what makes a great defence.

“What I have come to discover over the years is that there is no cheat code for it,” Radford said. “It is just hard work. It is repetition. It is the basics. That’s what we have tried to do. We are not where we need to be yet but we are closer than when I first arrived.

“All the technicalities go out the window, if the energy, effort and intent are not applied. Everyone is going to make a defensive error whether that is the wrong read, poor technique, poor application going into contact, but energy and effort can cover so much of that up.”

That nevertheless requires a buy-in from the playing group which Radford clearly has accomplished. As a player, Radford made his debut for Hull FC as a 16-year-old and a lot of his fire was forged in the derbies against Hull KR. “The city is divided by a bridge east and west. Hull KR is east and Hull FC are west,” Radford said.

“I grew up in the east, but I played for Hull FC in the west so I got s--- wherever I went. It is a unique derby. Households are pitted against each other. Pubs open at 10am and the whole city comes to a standstill.”

Radford’s playing career lasted 17 years, winning five England caps and two Super League grand finals with Bradford Bulls. Outside of rugby, he owns a golf course in Hull as well as several bars and restaurants. His energy is infectious, his focus single-minded.

His goal is not to put any sort of curb on Saints’ attack. One of the reasons he joined was that he loved watching them play. Instead Radford wants to ensure that the players are as passionate about the game without the ball as they are with it. He even cites Ben Earl’s over-the-top celebrations of an opposition miscue as an example to emulate.

“I want them to celebrate defence,” Radford said. “It is funny watching them celebrate the tries we scored, compared to celebrating an error. If you can get to that level then you are halfway there. You can give Ben Earl as much stick as you want, I would call that smart.

“He stays in the zone and it keeps him in the zone. There’s a knock-on effect that is detrimental to the other team when you are celebrating forcing an error from them. Likewise it pumps their tyres up.”

The visit of Toulon’s monstrous pack featuring former Saints David Ribbans and Kieran Brookes to Franklin’s Gardens on Friday night represents another foreboding challenge. In the last two seasons, Northampton have conceded the better part of 70 points in fixtures against La Rochelle and Racing 92.

These Saints are now made of sterner stuff. “All I want is that when I listen to a podcast or a TV show and I don’t hear them mention the defence,” Radford said. “That would be an achievement.”