By Paul Smith 
by Paul Smith
The two clubs are locked together at the head of pool two on 15 points and with only the team that tops the table guaranteed to qualify, Saturday’s winners will be in pole position ahead of the following week’s closing round of qualifying stage action.
“We have no thought of anything other than playing on the front foot and going at Northampton,” he said. “I have no interest in giving it a good go and being valiant losers – I don’t want to be that person or for us to have a team like that.
“We’ll go and give it a whirl; if we’re good enough we’re good enough and if we’re not we’re not but we absolutely won’t die wondering.
“We’re starting to get a few players back which is good. The more bodies we have the better training is and for the first time in a while we also didn’t get any knocks from the game last week so we’re in a good place.”
Since only three of the five pool stage runners-up will appear in the quarter-finals, Leicester’s win over Northampton last Saturday has blurred the qualification picture.
And according to Rae focus on this week’s game is therefore all-important.
“It’s still very difficult to work out all the possible combinations,” he said. “What we do know is finishing top guarantees you a place in the next round so that has to be our aim.
“If we can win on Saturday we will go into the last game at home to Leicester knowing exactly what we need but at the moment we can’t look past Northampton.
“If we get carried away looking at permutations and how we’re setting up the Leicester game we’ll get bitten on the backside. Taking care of business this weekend is going to be a huge challenge but it’s one we’re very excited about.
“Unlike a lot of the other Championship teams we very much have something to play for as we’re well placed in the group. Whereas they’re just looking to get through the next two weeks we’re in a real battle against two massive clubs and it doesn’t get much better than that.”
Cov’s 2024/25 generation will also make some history if they can reverse their November home defeat on Saturday.
The Blue-and-Whites’ last win over the Saints came 29 years ago, but according to club historian John Butler the longer-term post-war picture shows them holding the whip hand overall.
“The clubs met twice a season up to 1994/95 with Coventry winning 42, Northampton 39 and seven being drawn,” he says. “This includes 11 seasons when Cov did a ‘home and away double’ so overall their record stands up well, however, Saints have won all three of the clubs’ cup meetings.”
Tickets for Cov’s home game in the cup against Leicester on Saturday February 15th can be purchased at https://www.coventryrugby.co.uk/tickets/matchday-tickets/
