Furbank hails Saints for staying in the fight to secure bonus-point win at Gloucester

The black, green and gold saw a 24-7 lead disappear as the Cherry and Whites fought back to lead 29-24 during the second half.

But Saints pieced together a special breakaway score, finished by Tom Litchfield, and Fin Smith's nerveless conversion put them 31-29 ahead.

It was an advantage they were able to hold on to as Adam Hastings missed a penalty to win it with the final kick of the game.

And skipper Furbank said: "Something we wanted to pride ourselves on this year is staying in the fight.

"You know when you go away from home that it's going to be a scrap, and we've been a lot better at staying in it.

"Our defence on the whole has been a lot better and kept us in most games.

"We were a bit disappointed with our defence on Saturday but it kept us in the game at times and then ultimately our attack goes and wins it with that last try."

Saints had flown out of the blocks, with scores from Alex Mitchell, Alex Coles and Curtis Langdon, who bagged a brace, giving them a big lead.

But Gloucester wouldn't go quietly and they came all the way back before losing out late on.

"We talked about having a fast start because we knew they were going to come out hissing with The Shed behind them and a full house," Furbank said.

"We came out of the blocks flying and it felt like we were going to keep getting better but then we had a few disciplinary things, a momentum swing and they spent quite a bit of time down in our half and ultimately that let them back in the game.

"Something we want to pride ourselves on and have been a lot better at this season is riding waves of momentum.

"Last season, we probably ended up conceding 20 points in a row and then we were out of the game.

"We feel like we're able to get back to our game better this year and we know when we put our game on the pitch, we beat most sides.

"We're getting a lot better at grabbing momentum back when teams take it from us, which is inevitable at times."

So how did Furbank feel when Hastings was lining up the kick to try to win it for Gloucester?

"It was a tough kick and I wasn't really watching it to be honest," Furbank said.

"I was just staring at the posts waiting for it to come off but luckily Hutch (Rory Hutchinson) cleared it up.

"I hate those moments, just waiting for The Shed to roar if it went over, but we'll take the miss and take the win."

Litchfield was the second-half try hero for Saints, capping a superb showing as he moved from centre to star on the wing.

"He slotted in there pretty nicely," Furbank said.

"He's just a good ball player, a very good carrier and he scored that winning try as well so it's handy to have boys playing in different positions."

Saints now prepare to host Sale Sharks on Saturday, having won five successive matches in all competitions.

But Furbank said: "You don't get too many lives performing like we did (on Saturday) so we'll take five points.

"It's a tough place to come and get five points so we've got to be happy with that but we're a bit disappointed with that performance.

"But five wins in a row going into Christmas is good and we've got to keep that ball rolling."