'I feel strong' - Saints lock Munga can't wait for the new season to start

Those are the words of a beaming and bouncing Chunya Munga as he gets set for Saints' big kick-off on Saturday.

The black, green and gold will travel to Saracens for their first competitive action of the new campaign, with the teams squaring up in the PREM Rugby Cup pool-stage opener (kick-off 3pm).

And the trip to StoneX Stadium clearly can't come soon enough for Saints lock Munga, who is desperate to get things going.

"I'm feeling in a very good place, mentally and physically, and I feel ready to go," Munga said.

"I just love playing this game, it's what I've got out of bed to do since I was about 13 years old so whenever I get an opportunity to play, I'm just really looking forward to it."

Munga was part of a Gallagher PREM-winning squad again last season, earning a second league title in the space of just three seasons.

But he was limited to 19 appearances, 10 of which were starts.

"For me personally, I found it difficult at times," Munga said.

"The definition of us is just rugby players and sometimes you miss out on opportunities to play - at the start of the year because of injury and a bit more during the middle of the season and the end.

"But I'm very excited for this year. I feel fit, I feel strong and I'm just looking forward to playing some rugby."

Munga may only have turned 26 today (Wednesday), but he admits at times he already feels old such is the youthful nature of the Saints squad, which is set to be the youngest in the PREM at an average age of just 23.

In contrast, Bristol Bears are set to be the oldest group, with an average age of 28.

"It’s actually not funny any more because I’ve just turned 26 and it’s actually starting to get to the point where I feel like I am old,” Munga said.

"It’s just little things that sound ridiculous because I’m not really (old) in the grand scheme of life but you speak to lads about what they were doing in Covid and they’re like ‘oh, I was in Year 8’ and I’m thinking ‘I was 20 years old’.

"We have a lot of lads who have been filtering back in from internationals and it’s interesting when they come back because the lads who haven’t been away on international duty, senior guys like myself, Fraser Dingwall, Callum Chick, Tom Pearson, are looking around going ‘we’re not kids any more’.

"We do have a very young squad, but we’ve got a squad with a lot of talent, excitement and hunger as well as potential so I’m excited to see how a lot of those young boys will do this season.”

The likes of Jack Lewis and Charlie Tamani may be very much in their teens, but they clearly have the physique to mix it with the biggest men in the PREM and Europe.

"The lads who have come into their first senior year now are pretty big, athletic and pretty switched on,” Munga said.

"We had a laugh and a joke that they’re almost too professional for first years but it’s testament to the work the Academy does here because they’ve produced some really good quality lads who are coming in young, are switched on and they get it quickly.

"I’m pretty sure with how they’ve been in the environment so far, they’ll accelerate into the group very quickly.”

So are the young guns pushing the older players to new levels?

"I was watching the (Jose) Mourinho documentary the other day and one of the lads was talking about the mix of old and young guys,” Munga said.

"I’m not actually that old but looking at how some of these young guys prep, it reminded me of the clip where he (Mourinho) is talking about the energy, the buzz and the hunger the young guys have to be there.

"We are all hungry to be here but that level of enthusiasm and buzz of the young lads being so excited to be here does kick you into gear to make sure you have the same energy and enthusiasm.

"It adds an extra spark.”

And such is the belief and ability of the players coming through the Saints Academy, they will expect to enjoy a successful campaign.

"I didn’t come through the Academy here but when I was watching Saints from afar, it was all local lads who had come through the Academy and were competing at the highest level – and that hasn’t changed,” the former London Irish lock said.

“You look at a lot of the lads who have played in big finals in the past few years, and they came through the system.

"So when you’re a James Pater, an Edo Todaro or one of those other young guys, you’re looking at it and thinking ‘if I commit to this process, there’s no reason I can’t be on that path’.

"They come in with a confidence and a belief because they know that buying into this system should hopefully in the long run get them to a point where they have successful careers.”

Saints will hope their young squad can deliver a strong title defence, with everyone at Franklin’s Gardens determined not to repeat the injury-hit 2024/25 campaign, when the black, green and gold finished eighth in the league standings after claiming the crown during the previous term.

“We’ve had conversations as a playing group about what we want this season to look like and we understand we’re a new group of lads, new combinations,” Munga said.

"Yes, we’ve got a lot of faces this environment is very familiar with but this group, the 2026/27 group, is a new group with new ambition.

"The idea that Dingers (new Saints skipper Fraser Dingwall) put to us is that sometimes when you talk about defending things you can be hesitant because you want to hold onto things, but actually we want to free this group up because it’s a group that’s at its best when we just play.

"Funnily enough, by just playing we ended up doing pretty well last season.

"It’s about not having the idea too much of having to hold onto it (the title), but actually knowing we’ve got so much more in us, so many more areas to improve in.

"We managed to be successful and lift the trophy last season and now it’s about how hungry we can be about ironing out the bits of our game that we think we can get better at.

"Performance will hopefully lead to results and we’re pretty hungry to keep getting better because we know if we do that we can win as many games as possible and then from there on having another PREM title wouldn’t be too bad, would it?”