'Plenty of positives' but 'lots to work on' after Saints see off Ospreys

Api Ratuniyarawa and Saints saw off Ospreys on Friday night

But the attack coach has warned there is a lot to work on ahead of next Saturday's Gallagher Premiership season opener against Gloucester at Franklin's Gardens.

Saints were 31-26 winners against Ospreys, making it two wins from pre-season matches following the 40-21 victory at Bedford Blues a week earlier.

It meant the returning Saints supporters had plenty to shout about at the Gardens.

And Vesty said: "We got lots out of it. It was a decent hit-out for pre-season, we did some good things and there were plenty of things to be positive about.

"There were some areas for us to work on - the points they scored being part of that.

"We're happy with scoring those tries but we've got to stop them scoring, haven't we?

"Asking the boys to come out when it's slightly greasy and you've got that contact element to it, the ball is going to spill out of hands.

"They picked up a couple of cheap tries where they got an intercept or a bounce off a chest.

"It's a good hit-out because we won't be turning the ball over as much next week and going forward there's only way to practice it: out there on the field.

"It was the right time to be doing it."

There were plenty of fans at the Gardens to see Saints edge out Ospreys.

And Vesty savoured seeing the fans flooding into the ground, which was empty for most of last season due to Covid-19 restrictions.

"It was such an amazing walk in, seeing everyone smiling," Vesty said.

"It was such a cool walk in and then you get into the crowd and there's actually people here, mingling and enjoying themselves and enjoying the rugby.

"It's very different to how it was last year.

"You probably become accustomed to that sterile environment so it's just so nice to have everyone here cheering again."

Saints will now sharpen their sights on Gloucester at the Gardens.

"We've been ramping up training and we played this game very fatigued," Vesty said.

"In the week ahead we'll be freshening up a bit and making sure we get those bits of organisation sorted to make sure we come in firing next Saturday."