Fin Smith vows not to repeat complacency that derailed Northampton's title defence

Fin Smith has opened up on the mindset failure that contributed to Northampton Saints’ poor title defence in 2024/25, admitting the England fly-half believed he had “sort of made it” after the club’s first Premiership triumph and warning that he will not allow history to repeat itself.

Saints won the Gallagher Premiership in 2023/24 but endured a dismal defence of that crown, finishing eighth the following season despite reaching the Investec Champions Cup final. Smith, now 24 and capped 19 times by England, says the squad spent too much time looking backwards rather than evolving.

“I’d say I struggled with that the year after we won the PREM the first time,” Smith said. “I was a bit younger and thought I’d sort of made it, and we were so amazing, we’d won the PREM, all of this. But actually, I want to back it up.”

The fly-half is clear that a couple of trophies is not the legacy he is chasing. “I think that’s what the great players do. They do it on repeat. A couple of trophies is not what I want to define me. I want to back that up and be a consistent performer.”

Smith also identified the collective trap Northampton fell into, with the dressing room repeatedly referencing what had worked in the title-winning campaign rather than finding new ways to improve. “We spent too much time comparing to the 2024 season and speaking about, ‘Last year we did this, and it worked, and we need to try and do that again,’” he said.

His message for the new campaign is a deliberate reframing of the challenge ahead. “Rather than trying to defend a title and protect what we’ve done and replicate last year, we have to be striving to be much better than that year and create our own way of doing things — because there’s nine other teams in the PREM that are doing the exact same thing, and they’ll have improved.”

Beyond the club season, Smith has a significant personal incentive sharpening his focus. The 2025 Rugby World Cup in Australia is on the horizon, and he has set his sights on securing England’s number ten jersey for the tournament. “I know I’ve got a huge carrot dangling of the World Cup at the end of the year, which is a massive goal for me, to be at my best,” he said. “I want to wear the 10 jersey, and I know the only way to do that is by improving and playing better with Northampton.”