Northampton Saints 'can’t be like Kevin Keegan's entertainers' and must be 'tougher' says Tom May

Former Northampton Saints utility back Tom May has compared his old team to “Kevin Keegan’s entertainers” and warned they must toughen up.

Northampton kicked off their Gallagher Premiership Rugby campaign against Sale Sharks and the stats say it’s the best offensive team against the best defensive team in the league.

The Sharks conceded the fewest points per game on average last season (21.8) as well as the least tries (2.7) while Northampton scored the most points (31.5) and most tries (4.2).

But Northampton cannot assume they will outscore every team this season, May argued.

He likened them to the iconic Premier League strike partnership of Andy Cole and Peter Beardsley, who played for Newcastle United under Keegan and scored 55 goals between them during the 1993/94 season.

“You don’t want to get hit by any of those Sale lads, because they are ginormous,” he told TNT Sports ahead of the game. “Having watched these two sides over the past couple of seasons, Sale are very, very measly in defence and don’t really let anything through.

“Northampton, [scored] 84 tries last year, but you can’t be like Kevin Keegan's entertainers. You can’t just say ‘We’ll score more than you’ because we know in this league, that’s not going to get you anywhere.

“You have to be tough up front, and that’s where Phil Dowson and his coaching staff have been brought in, [as well as] Lee Radford from the Bradford Bulls, a big strong Bradford Bulls presence here today on both sides.

“But that focus on defence is really important. His understanding and how they are adapting that defence to [Rugby] Union is really important to Saint this season.”

Katy Daley-McLean, who played for Sale and England, added: “Realistically, you’ve got the best defence against the best attack. From our perspective, you want to see this Northampton side with the ball in hand. It’s a beautiful day, they’re going to be running well and looking to score tries.

“Sale on the other hand, like hitting things. I think it’s a really interesting change in the game because of what Sale want to do, they want to utilise what Northampton can do. They want to be more Northampton.”

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