Gaffney: Saints needed to show 'a bit more respect' to supporters

Alan Gaffney says the Saints players should have showed their supporters 'a bit more respect' in Saturday's clash with Sale Sharks.
Alan Gaffney was far from happy with Saints' showing against SaleAlan Gaffney was far from happy with Saints' showing against Sale
Alan Gaffney was far from happy with Saints' showing against Sale

Saints were beaten 34-25 at Franklin's Gardens, conceding 31 of those points during a shocking first-half performance.

Supporters and staff had worked extremely hard to ensure the game went ahead, despite sub-zero temperatures and heavy snowfall in Northampton.

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And technical coaching consultant Gaffney admits the first 40 minutes were far from the reward those who shovelled snow deserved.

"People worked overnight to get the game on and we have to show them a bit more respect than what we did," the Australian said.

"We owed those people, we owed the supporters who turned up in that weather and we owe a lot of people.

"The players are the entertainers, but we didn't entertain.

"We owe them a lot more than what we showed.

"We played reasonably well in parts, but Sale went down to 14 men and we lost the sin-bin periods 6-0.

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"We think we're playing in a sevens tournament in Las Vegas at times and we can't play that way.

"I love to play expansive rugby, but we've got to have an understanding of keeping the ball and playing the game from there.

"We had opportunities that we can't let slip and we backed ourselves to win the game, even at half-time after the pathetic performance."