Burger Odendaal: Northampton centre 'clears cobwebs' with overdue debut after injury issues

Burger Odendaal is a former captain of South African sides the Lions and Bulls

Northampton Saints centre Burger Odendaal is hoping to stay injury-free after "blowing away the cobwebs" with his long-awaited debut for the club.

The South African was signed in January 2023 but injury problems have meant he has spent much of his stay sidelined.

He finally got on the pitch in Saints' 21-17 win over Sale, a result which put them top of the Premiership table.

"It's been so tough. It's hard to believe the last game I played was nine months ago," the 30-year-old said.

"There were a lot of cobwebs I needed to get rid of. It's been tough, being injured, getting back to training then getting another injury. Hopefully there are many more (games) to come."

Odendaal moved to Saints from Japanese rugby, having previously made four appearances for Wasps during the 2022-23 season.

"I don't think it was the prettiest game to watch (against Sale) but I'm really glad we got the result," he told BBC Radio Northampton.

"The Premiership is an awesome competition, every weekend is going to be a tough game. It's vital you get a result, especially in home games."

Saints trailed 7-0 at half-time against Sale but touchdowns by George Furbank and Alex Mitchell, plus a penalty try, helped them to their fourth successive victory.

And they will look to make that five in Saturday's first v second meeting with Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park.

"I don't think anything is fazing us too much at the moment," said full-back Furbank.

"It's all so calm on the pitch and we had some good chats at half-time (against Sale) and came out and were able to execute what we wanted to execute, which is a really good place to be.

"There is a trust now that our game plan, in our d [defence) and our attack, is going to dig us out of holes and that's what we go back to now."

Furbank said being top at the start of the new year was exciting, but added the season was only at the halfway point.

He added: "We've got to keep pushing on. We've got Exeter next week, which is another big challenge, and we want to be able to qualify for knockouts in Europe."