Northampton boss Jim Mallinder praised his side's spirit after they came from behind to beat Llanelli Scarlets.
Saints boss delighted with fighting spirit after EDF victory
Northampton Saints boss Jim Mallinder praised his side's fighting spirit after they came from behind to beat Llanelli Scarlets 33-20.
Despite conceding two quick tries, the Saints rallied and their four-try fightback earned them a bonus point victory that saw them into the semi-finals of the EDF Energy Cup.
After a poor start, Mallinder praised his team's powers of recovery and the spirit they showed in storming back for the victory.
"We had a shocking start to go 10-0 down but we'd expected it," Mallinder said.
"We'd talked all week about the threat of the Scarlets and the way they like to play their rugby and it took us 10 or 15 minutes to get into the game."
Defence
"But our defence improved significantly and it was good to go on and score some good tries. We sorted out a few problems but it's simple, you've got to make your first-up tackles and then compete and slow teams like Scarlets down.
"We're not the finished article but to come back from points down was good, to keep our composure and keep that lead.
"We didn't panic when we lost James Downey to the sin-bin and went down to 14 men.
"It could have been an uncomfortable last 10 minutes but we managed to keep our shape and discipline."
Teamwork
Two-try hero Chris Ashton and fly-half Stephen Myler got special praise from the boss, but he was keen to emphasise their team ethic.
"He (Ashton) is growing and scoring tries but he's still got things to work on in his game and he knows that but he knows where the try-line is and he's always dangerous," added Mallinder.
"I don't really want to pick those two out because there were some outstanding contributions from everyone.
"We've come up from the first division and know we have a lot of work to do as a team but to qualify against a very strong Scarlets side is good.
"It puts us through to a semi-final which will be a big game, a big atmosphere and this is what a club like this deserves. It's a big club and it should be moving places."
Scarlets director of rugby Nigel Davies did not complain about the two video decisions that went against the Welsh side
"That happens," said Davies. "We've got to take that on the chin.
"We're certainly not getting the bounce of the ball at the moment but I was proud of the way the boys played today.
"They gave everything they had but we let ourselves down on a couple of occasions.
"There's a couple of factors which affect our game. Discipline is a big problem for us and on occasions we leak some soft tries as well."
