Northampton boss Jim Mallinder heaped praise on Paul Diggin after his two first-half scores set up a 17-13 victory over Leicester.
Saints boss reserves special praise for Diggin and Foden
Northampton boss Jim Mallinder heaped praise on two-try local hero Paul Diggin after his two first-half scores set up a memorable 17-13 east midlands derby victory over Leicester.
The Saints wing struck twice in nine first-half minutes to hand the home side the initiative before man-of-the-match Ben Foden sealed the win with a second-half score.
Speaking after the match, Mallinder was quick to praise the contribution of his winger as Northampton kept their unbeaten home record intact in their return season back in the Guinness Premiership.
"He's only small but he's got a big heart. We've got a bit of competition there and he's keeping some key personnel out of the team," Mallinder said of Diggin.
"He's a local Northampton lad who went to the boys' school down the road and what he's doing is fantastic," he said.
Ability
Mallinder also backed Foden for a place in Martin Johnson's England squad after he created a try and scored one for the second week running after doing the same against bottom club Bristol.
"He backed up last week's performance. It was a fantastic performance and then he has the ability to switch to scrum-half when Lee Dickson got a little bit of cramp near the end.
"He picks lines really well, he's got pace and he's got strength as well. He's got the ability to fend off that first tackler and stay on his feet and has a good kicking game as well."
Mallinder said he will be surprised if Johnson does not pick Foden when he names his RBS Six Nations squad on Wednesday.
"I don't know what he's looking at but I think he's got to come into his consideration," said the Northampton boss.
No complaints
Mallinder also refused to blame goalkicker Myler, whose uncharacteristic off-day saw him squander 13 points in front of goal.
"He has been fantastic for us. It's not an issue, he had a bad day at the office in terms of his kicking but he played well otherwise and we came through it," he said.
Leicester's stand-in coach Richard Cockerill, in charge for a second match after director of rugby Heyneke Meyer returned home to South Africa on compassionate leave because of family illness, had no complaints with the defeat.
"We didn't control the ball, we turned it over too much and we had to ride the storm in the first 25 minutes but we just couldn't build enough pressure.
"Saints took the game to us, they ran very hard and three tries to one, you can't hide from that fact.
"If they had kicked their penalties and conversions they might have been out of sight by half-time. You have to take your hat off to the way they played."
