Northampton Saints: Mallinder says he had to rest key players to keep them fresh
Pictures by Linda Dawson
JIM MALLINDER believes the experience of losing badly at Bath will stand his side in good stead in the future.
Not only did his big guns have some valuable rest, but the young players that took their place got some equally valuable experience.
The net result was a 46-14 defeat at The Rec and another five tries conceded, but Saints’ LV= Cup hopes are still very much alive.
Victory against Wasps at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday would probably be enough to qualify for the semi-finals, with five points sealing progression and maybe even a home tie.
Saints had 10 players on international duty at the weekend, while Mallinder chose to rest another six.
In contrast, Bath put out their strongest side.
Mallinder said: “It is a disappointing result. But for us it is what is best for the club. Hopefully in the short term, middle term and long term the experience of playing down here against a strong Bath side will stand those young players in good stead.
“The Premiership is massive for us. We want to progress in the LV= Cup, but we have to be mindful in terms of our squad.
“They do need a rest and we will need those players coming up.
“We have not got a massive squad and we need to give these youngsters a chance.”
Saints have been rotating their side as much as possible this term so the collapse of last season doesn’t happen again.
Back then, the relentless fight on two fronts caught up with Saints in the Heineken Cup final as a second-half collapse saw them lose to Leinster, a week after losing a Premiership semi-final to Leicester.
This time Mallinder wants his front-line players fresh for the run-in – but he hinted that he will be putting out his strongest available side next week for the visit of Wasps, not only to ensure a place in the LV= Cup semi-finals, but to get his team ready for the return to Premiership action.
“Throughout a season we can’t keep picking the same 15, we proved that last year,” said Mallinder.
“You can’t keep picking the same players week in, week out, you have got to give them time off.
“That is what we have done this week.
“We had a few on the bench and left a few at home as well.
“We will probably have a few of them coming back in next week with the aim of getting it right for the league games.”
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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