Northampton Saints: Skipper Dylan says Saints are improving despite Munster battering
Pictures by Linda Dawson
SKIPPER Dylan Hartley believes Saints are heading in the right direction despite a second-half mauling from Munster at Milton Keynes.
For the second time in three seasons the Irish province ended Saints’ hopes of progressing to the knockout stages, with the 51-36 defeat also wiping out any chance of Hartley & co playing in the Amlin Challenge Cup.
Saints were level at 19-19 at the break before a second-half hat-trick from Simon Zebo saw Munster power into the quarter-finals.
But Hartley insisted that the defeat would not upset Saints’ progress under director of rugby Jim Mallinder with the Premiership and LV= Cup still very much to play for.
Hartley, who joins up with the England squad on Monday for the Six Nations, said: “A loss today against a good team doesn’t hinder this group, we have had some awesome results over the festive period. We have won our last five games, we are doing all right as a group, we are heading in the right direction.
“For the group that stays here with Saints, we have two LV= Cup games. It is a trophy we have won before and something we want to win again.”
Despite a dominant scrum, Saints gave away precious points and momentum with a series of bad restarts and Hartley admitted that proved crucial against a top European side like Munster, who are the only club left in the competition with a 100 per cent record.
“If you look at the first half where they got their points from,” said Hartley. “There were two offsides in midfield and three messed-up kick-offs, so if you take those out of the game we are very much in it.
“But it is about that little bit of momentum, you are giving them the ball back in your third and with the boot of Ronan O’Gara you have got to be squeaky clean.”
Saints left out England winger Chris Ashton following his decision to join Saracens in the build-up to the clash, but Hartley didn’t think that affected them.
“We have got a good squad,” said Hartley. “I thought the two wingers were excellent today. It is his (Ashton’s) decision to leave, personally why I signed on again is because I don’t think there is any other place you would want to be as a young English rugby player, I am very happy here. All the best to him, I will still be his mate.”
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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steve rodhouse
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 10:51 AMSorry My Hartley but how do you work that one out? We should have stuffed them away and then several weeks later get stuffed by them on a neutral ground. Improving ????
Chrispy1
Monday, January 23, 2012 at 04:27 PMLet's be honest...it serves Saints right, If they hadn't tried to play the Franchise RFC card and played in Northampton instead, they might have won. Let's hope next season they've got Franklin's Gardens ready for the Heineken Cup, and the good people of Northampton can cheer their own team to victory. If Winke wants a rugby team at his half-finished stadium, let him start his own. He can't spend his whole life nicking other towns' sports teams.
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