Meehan: praise for Claassens
I don't think we will be overly pleased with that performance. There were improvements in certain areas compared with last weekend's win over Sale. Individually there were some fine performances but there is more to work on.
Steve Meehan
Quotes of the week
Bath head coach Steve Meehan insists there is plenty of room for improvement from his side despite watching them go back to the top of the Guinness Premiership.
Bath won 25-14 at Northampton but the victory was somehwat less convincing than the scoreline suggests.
Meehan said: "I don't think we will be overly pleased with that performance. There were improvements in certain areas compared with last weekend's win over Sale. Individually there were some fine performances but there is more to work on."
Commenting on the two-try performance by scrum half Michael Claassens, Meehan added: "That was his best performance for some weeks. He's like an extra back rower in that he has the ability to get to the breakdown but he's been looking for scoring opportunities. His tries today, though, were also the result of good work by his forwards."
Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder conceded that Bath "are a good side", before adding: "But if you look at the tries, their first was a bit soft. In the first 15 minutes today we weren't quite at the races.
"It was frustrating to come away with nothing. It's little things - every time we scored we then seemed to concede. But Bath are a good side with good strong forwards."
| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Guinness Premiership | |
| Sunday 22nd November | |
| Guinness Premiership | |
| 15:00 | London Irish vs Newcastle |
| 15:00 | Leeds Carnegie vs Sale |
| 15:00 | Saracens vs Wasps |
| Friday 27th November | |
| 19:45 | Sale vs Wasps |
| 20:00 | Newcastle vs Northampton |
| 20:00 | Worcester vs Saracens |
| Saturday 28th November | |
| 15:00 | Harlequins vs Gloucester |
| 15:00 | Leicester vs Leeds Carnegie |
| 17:35 | Bath vs London Irish |
| Saturday 5th December | |
| 15:00 | London Irish vs Worcester |
| 15:00 | Gloucester vs Newcastle |
| 15:00 | Northampton vs Bath |
| 17:35 | Saracens vs Sale |
| Sunday 6th December | |
| 15:00 | Wasps vs Leicester |
| Saturday 26th December | |
| 14:15 | Bath vs Gloucester |
| 15:00 | Leicester vs Sale |
| 15:00 | Worcester vs Northampton |
| Sunday 27th December | |
| 15:00 | London Irish vs Saracens |
| 15:00 | Newcastle vs Leeds Carnegie |
| 16:00 | Harlequins vs Wasps |
| Friday 1st January | |
| 15:00 | Sale vs Harlequins |
| 15:00 | Saracens vs Leicester |
| Saturday 2nd January | |
| 15:00 | Northampton vs London Irish |
| 15:00 | Leeds Carnegie vs Bath |
| 15:00 | Gloucester vs Worcester |
| Result |
|---|
| Guinness Premiership |
| Saturday 21st November |
| Guinness Premiership |
| Northampton 26 - 17 Harlequins |
| Friday 20th November |
| Worcester 12 - 12 Bath |
| Gloucester 12 - 9 Leicester |
| Sunday 1st November |
| Newcastle 14 - 3 Worcester |
| Wasps 9 - 15 Leeds Carnegie |
| Saturday 31st October |
| Leicester 29 - 15 Northampton |
| Harlequins 9 - 9 London Irish |
| Bath 11 - 12 Saracens |
| Friday 30th October |
| Sale 28 - 23 Gloucester |
| Sunday 25th October |
| Saracens 21 - 15 Leeds Carnegie |
| Saturday 24th October |
| Gloucester 6 - 35 Wasps |
| London Irish 18 - 12 Leicester |
| Northampton 21 - 16 Sale |
| Worcester 22 - 26 Harlequins |
| Bath 16 - 27 Newcastle |
| Sunday 4th October |
| Leeds Carnegie 10 - 26 Gloucester |
| Wasps 20 - 15 Northampton |
| Newcastle 15 - 22 Saracens |
| Saturday 3rd October |
| Harlequins 13 - 11 Bath |
| Leicester 19 - 14 Worcester |
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