The big interview: Tom Vickers talks to departing Saints No.8 Juarno Augustus

The South African No.8 has become a key figure since arriving in Northampton from the Stormers in 2021.

His bulldozing displays have become a theme at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens, and he helped to propel Saints to a long-awaited Premiership title last season.

A repeat of that appears almost impossible this time round, but Saints are still alive in Europe, facing an Investec Champions Cup semi-final against Leinster in Dublin on May 3.

And Augustus is determined to secure some more memories to put in his suitcase when he heads to Belfast to become an Ulster player this summer.

"I haven’t thought about it too much yet because I’m just focusing on the next job," said the 27-year-old.

"It’s probably when it gets closer to the time, at the end of the season, that it will properly kick in, but I’m not looking at that stage of the season.

"But it’s going to be sad for me, leaving the club, because I’ve been here four years and it’s started feeling like home.

"I’ve grown so close to most of my team-mates – I even call them my brothers because we spend so much time together away from the club as well.

"I’ll miss it but I don’t want to think too far ahead."

He added: "The main goal is just to make as many memories or create as many memories as I can in the next month, or however long is left.

"I don’t want to count down the days, I don’t want to think about it, so I’ll just live day by day and just create as many memories as I can with the boys."

Some will have been surprised by Augustus's decision to leave a Saints side full of star quality.

But the lure of playing more matches back in South Africa - Ulster are in the United Rugby Championship alongside the Bulls, Sharks, Stormers and Lions - was clearly significant.

"When I made the decision, I think that was one of the key parts as well, that I can see more of my family," Augustus said.

"I can go to Cape Town more often, so that will be nice, and I can play against some old friends as well."

For now though, the focus is very much on playing alongside the friends Augustus has made during his time at Saints.

He came off the bench last Friday to help his side beat Newcastle Falcons 35-34 and claim a first Gallagher Premiership away win since way back in January 2024.

"Last week was good," he said. "We went up to Newcastle just to go out there and play well and see what we can focus on for the next couple of weeks.

"We struggled with our D (defence), but I don’t think it was too bad.

"I think our main goal was going up there and going for the win so we can keep the momentum going because our last (league game) before Newcastle we lost and we went into Europe and started winning again, so we just want to keep that ball rolling.

"Before going up to Newcastle, we hadn’t won an away game since January of last year, so it had been quite a while since we’d won away and we just wanted to go out there and rectify that, and we can take the goods from that into this coming week against Bristol."

Burger Odendaal got the chance to skipper Saints for the first time last Friday.

So how did Augustus find his compatriot's leadership style?

He said: "When they named him as captain, I asked him ‘when was the last time you captained?’ And he said ‘at the Lions,’ so it wasn’t his first time and he’s a captain that leads the way on the field and off the field.

"It was good playing underneath him as a captain – he’s quite direct to the point and that’s good for a group like us.

"He doesn’t speak too much, that’s quite good as well, so I like him as a captain."

Odendaal and Augustus will look to have the kind of influence they had late last season as they pushed Saints to a first Premiership title since 2014.

"This is the business end of the season," Augustus said.

"We want to keep the momentum rolling, so our focus is mainly on Bristol because they’re a good team.

"They’re playing good rugby and we’re just putting our focus on this week, on winning and seeing where we end up in the Prem this year.

"I don’t know if it’s out of our reach but we want to win all of our next games and see if we can make the play-offs, so that’s our main focus on this week."

Augustus is now in his fourth season at Saints, making 79 appearances for the club so far.

And he feels he has developed hugely during his time in Northampton.

"When I arrived, I played a couple of senior games and when I came here, I became a senior player then, so I think my game has evolved quite a lot," he said.

"I’ve learned from a few good international players, like Courts (Courtney Lawes), Luds (Lewis Ludlam), Biggsy (Dan Biggar), even Lukhan (Salakaia-Loto) when he came over from Australia, and Matt Proctor as well, all international players.

"I wouldn’t say I’ve got the opportunity to play international rugby, so I’ve learned quite a lot from them.

"Playing in big games, for them it’s just another game with more people watching, but the game doesn’t change, it’s the same game.

"So, I’ve learned a lot and I’ll take that with me and hopefully I can give that over as a senior player at Ulster.

"Hopefully I can give something back to the younger boys."

Augustus has been part of a Saints side that has been able to play with a real swagger.

"Joining the Saints has given me the freedom to do what I want and play how I want to play so I can just play freely," he said.

"(Saints head coach) Sam Vesty said if you get the opportunity with the ball in hand, you can go out and express yourself and it’s the same when I want to go out and hit someone, I can, so they don’t put restrictions on me.

"I can just go out there and be myself, and that’s when players play at their best, so that’s nice even with a guy like (Henry) Pollock coming in. He comes in and has the freedom to chip and chase and score unreal tries, and that’s just the freedom in our gameplay that makes us play better."

On Pollock, Augustus added: "When he joined the senior group, I saw a video of him when he played for the juniors where he got the ball on the edge and just ran and he scored a 60-metre try.

"I saw that this guy’s fast and you can’t substitute pace. You can get stronger in the gym, but you can’t get as fast as that, so if you have the pace, you can do whatever you want, and he’s strong as well so he’s good to play with."

With Saints only having two home games remaining this season, Augustus is savouring every chance he has to run out at the Gardens.

"Playing at home at Franklin’s Gardens is always nice – the crowd comes out to support us and we love that," he said.

"The atmosphere is amazing, the teams coming here always talk about it, so it will be good (against Bristol)."

And what would be even better is if Saints can find a way to win a trophy to send Augustus off on a real high this summer.

"That would be unreal," he said. "If I can leave the club on a high just like some of the boys did last year, like Luds, Courts, Sue (Alex Waller), that would be the cherry on top of the cake.

"That would be nice and hopefully we can do that."