Mallinder feels Saints made Bath big guns 'look quite average'

Jim Mallinder felt Saints made Bath's big names 'look quite average' as his side secured a fine 24-6 win at Franklin's Gardens on Friday night.
Jim Mallinder saw his men make it back-to-back wins at the Gardens (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)Jim Mallinder saw his men make it back-to-back wins at the Gardens (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)
Jim Mallinder saw his men make it back-to-back wins at the Gardens (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)

Two tries from David Ribbans and one apiece from captain-for-the night Courtney Lawes and George North ensured Mallinder's men would pick up a bonus-point Aviva Premiership success.

Bath could only reply through two Rhys Priestland penalties as they were outplayed at the Gardens.

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And that meant their winning start, which saw them beat Leicester and Saracens, went up in smoke.

"What I did like was the physicality of the team - we played as a team," said Mallinder, who has steered his side to two home wins in the space of six days.

"We were coming up against some good individuals, a good side - Bath have proven that by beating two very good teams.

"But today, we deserved to win.

"In the first half, it was a bit messy, but we scored a good try at the end of it.

"We talked about game management, moving them around.

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"You've got to get your kicking game going and I know sometimes the fans don't like it, but it they put 14 in the line you've got to have a kicking game and we need to just work on our accuracy.

"In the second half, we pinned them down, we got a good chase, we got turnovers and we made their good players look quite average."

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