The last time Northampton won the Premiership, Fraser Dingwall and George Furbank were delirious teenage Saints fans in the Twickenham crowd.
Alex Mitchell watched on TV at his grandmother’s house in Warrington, as Saints edged out Saracens 24-20 after extra-time in 2014.
Fast-forward 10 years, and Dingwall, Furbank and Mitchell will pitch up at Twickenham as full England stars bidding to steer Northampton to a Premiership final win of their own.
The last time Northampton won the Premiership, Courtney Lawes and Alex Waller were in the thick of the action, driving Saints to glory. Fast-forward again and Lawes and Waller will be in the mixer one last time before leaving the club.
Northampton rugby director Phil Dowson played for Saints in that 2014 final, and this time will take his seat in the coaching box.
Two Premiership finals, a decade apart, and Dowson believes there is only one man who has not changed a bit in the interim.
“Courtney’s exactly the same as he was the first time I met him,” said Dowson of the 35-year-old Northampton and England stalwart.
He’s incredibly authentic and genuine, and he’s just as unflappable now as he was then
“The first time I came across him it was 2008. I was playing for Newcastle against Northampton and having a spat with Lee Dickson, who was my old Falcons team-mate but was at Saints by then.
“I was telling Dicko what I thought of him, and up popped Courtney, grabbing me by the throat to defend his team-mate.
“Next season, I joined Northampton, walked through the door and realised, ‘Oh yeah, that’s the kid who didn’t think twice about getting stuck in’.
“He’s incredibly authentic and genuine, and he’s just as unflappable now as he was then. He really grounds and anchors us as a group.
“Somehow, he’s managing to get even better. He has developed from a second row into a genuinely world-class flanker.”
Lawes will leave Northampton after tomorrow’s final, heading for Brive, the 35-year-old ending 17 stunning years and more than 250 games for Saints, plus 105 England caps and six for the Lions.
Lawes summoned a thunderous tackle that levelled Charlie Hodgson in Northampton’s 2014 Premiership final triumph, while Waller ploughed in for the match-winning try in extra-time.
Kids when Dowson, Lawes and Waller were doing their thing in 2014, Dingwall, Furbank and Mitchell are all in their mid-twenties and firmly established for club and country.
“It’s pretty cool having watched Courtney lift the Premiership trophy to then be playing in a Premiership final with him,” said Furbank. “When I look back, I’ll feel very grateful I’ve been able to do that with a legend of the game. We want to win it for him and the other boys leaving, too.”
In the way of Saints stand Bath, in their first final in nine years and seeking a first title since 1996.
South African coach Johann Van Graan has turned well-resourced Bath from the Premiership’s bottom club to finalists in two years.
“We had all of the pieces of the puzzle available to us, but we couldn’t put them together,” said hooker Tom Dunn.
