SAINTS: Play-off bid on target
Saints boss Jim Mallinder believes his side have laid the platform for a real tilt at the Guinness Premiership play-offs after their eighth win in a row on Saturday.
Ben Foden inspired three tries in the final quarter to seal a 26-6 win at Worcester, their fourth Premiership win in a row.
It is the perfect build up to this Saturday's top-of-the-table clash against London Irish at Franklin's Gardens and the second half of the season as Saints look to secure a play-off spot for the first time since 2004.
Mallinder said: "I do think we have got a platform to get into the play-offs. We have got a good pack of forwards who can scrum and we have got a good lineout.
"We are competitive at the breakdown in attack and defence, we showed that on Saturday. Worcester came out and played a lot of rugby, got quite a lot of ball, but we managed to close them down and defend well and win quite a lot of crucial turnovers. And we have got backs who can play."
The win at Worcester was Saints' third victory on the Guinness Premiership road this season. In Saints' return to the top flight they won just once on the road last season, but with 11 games to go Mallinder's men only have London Irish to travel to out of the top four and that is on the last day of the season. And three of Saints' six remaining away games are against sides in the bottom four.
Saints' away form combined with their formidable home record of one defeat in nearly three years makes them outstanding candidates to not only reach the play-offs, but win the Premiership for the first time.
Mallinder said: "The recent run we have been on has been particularly encouraging. We have not played particularly well in the European games but we have been winning, and we are learning to win away as well, which will stand us in good stead."
Saturday's latest win was based on a solid defence and there were tries from Chris Ashton, Foden and Phil Dowson which makes Saints comfortably the top try-scorers in the top flight.
Mallinder added: "When you go away from home you have got to play at the right times, in the right areas and take your opportunities in counter attack - I think we did that quite well on Saturday."
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Friday 10 February 2012
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