Foden admits Saints are struggling to plug gaps during 'brutal' spell

Ben Foden admits there are gaps 'everywhere we look' at Saints right now.
Ben Foden skippered Saints at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)Ben Foden skippered Saints at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)
Ben Foden skippered Saints at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)

The 32-year-old was skipper for Sunday's clash with Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium.

It was to end in yet another defeat for Saints, who shipped four tries on their way to a 32-15 loss.

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It was their first game without Jim Mallinder, who was relieved of his role as director of rugby last Tuesday.

And old problems resurfaced as Saints struggled at the scrum and in defence, suffering a fourth Champions Cup defeat in as many matches this season.

They have conceded a try bonus point in each of those encounters and have now been beaten in 10 of their past 11 games in all competitions.

And Foden said: "The disappointing thing for us is that we're getting in positions where we should be coming away with points and we're not.

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"Especially in the first half on Sunday, with the amount of territory we had in their zone, we should have come away with points.

"Going in at half-time 11-0 down was disappointing, but we knew we could come out in the second half and give it a real go.

"We took our chance early in the second half (with a Harry Mallinder try and Piers Francis penalty that cut the deficit to 11-8), but again there were defensive frailties we need to look at.

"Again, there were holes everywhere we look at the moment and that's the problem.

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"We need to rebuild and we've still got players who can do good things.

"But it's a brutal sport, rugby, and when you don't get the little things right, holes appear in defence and we saw that on Sunday and during the past couple of weeks."

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