Saints skipper Dingwall: 'We don't want to be seen as a team like that'

The black, green and gold suffered a 28-7 defeat to Leicester Tigers in torrid conditions at Mattioli Woods Welford Road on Saturday afternoon.

The relentless rain and wind meant it was a day when Saints were unable to unleash their slick attacking game.

And Tigers took advantage, turning the screw in the set piece and in the air during the second period as they scored 25 unanswered points during the second period.

Dingwall recognised that Leicester are very good at playing in difficult conditions and the Saints skipper says it's something he wants his own side to improve on.

"They're very good at it and it's something we have to be better at because during the year you can't always have perfect conditions," Dingwall said.

"But also, we don't want to be seen as a team like that, we don't want to be seen as a team that can only perform when it's great conditions and things are lining up for them.

"You've got to go and win in different conditions because that's how a team is great: if they find different ways to win, irrespective of what the weather is doing, what the opposition is doing. It should be based around how the team can adapt and perform."

Saints had actually handled the conditions well during the first half, while Leicester lost the ball on several occasions, particularly at the lineout.

It meant the Tigers headed in 7-3 down at the break, but they tightened things up and totally turned the game around during the final 40 minutes, scoring four tries to bag a bonus-point Gallagher PREM win.

"A lot of the frustration comes from the second half really," Dingwall said.

"In the first half we put ourselves in a really good spot, we were doing a lot of good stuff, managing the conditions, managing the game well and winning a lot of moments, but then in the second half I didn't think we really won any moments, and the ones we did we didn't back them up.

"From being in a strong position to not scoring in the second half, it was really disappointing.

"You look at the difference between the halves and we won the aerial contest in the first half but they won it in the second half.

"They won the floor second half, set-piece battle they won it in the second half and unfortunately they got a roll on us.

"The ones that annoy me the most are the ones that are within our control, and the opportunities we gave them through discipline are the big frustrations.

"Naturally in this league there are going to be times when teams do things well and they are able to get territory and momentum, but to give them easy opportunities, those are things we can't do.

"The soft penalties give them field position and belief and that feeds the whole of their machine to roll on top of you.

"At 7-3, with scoreboard pressure, if you don't give them those opportunities it naturally becomes tighter and we're more in the game and it doesn't give them that energy.

"A lot of the game is built around momentum and how teams are feeling psychologically and a lot of that comes down to field position, energy and how disciplined you can be because you can't give people opportunities."

When asked whether there are things for him to work on in terms of his captaincy during the second half, Dingwall said: "It's something I will reflect on.

"It's about how good our messaging can be, how good we can be at wresting back that momentum.

"As a leadership group, I think we messaged really well across the first half and the second half, but ultimately you've got to get actions and a shift in behaviour where you win small moments and stack a few on top of each other to become a big thing.

"We just didn't do that in the second half and of course it's something I'm going to look at."

Next up for Saints is a huge battle with Gloucester at DPD Stadium at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday evening (kick-off 5.30pm).

The Cherry and Whites have won three of their four PREM matches so far this season, with their only loss coming at Leicester, though they did still secure two bonus points from that match.

"They (Gloucester) are obviously doing really well at the moment, they're flying, so we're excited to welcome them to our place," Dingwall said.

"We've got things to grow and get better at so what a great week to be fired up for it."