Ben Foden has been praised by Northampton boss Jim Mallinder after a fine display in Saints' defeat of Saracens.
Full-back praised for his contribution against Saracens
Ben Foden has been praised by Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder for his display in Saints' 19-3 LV=Cup defeat of Saracens.
Foden produced a man-of-the-match display for his club after being ignored by England manager Martinh Johnson for the match against Argentina.
The 24-year-old responded to the disappointment by making two game-changing breaks which set up tries for Chris Ashton and Bruce Reihana, helping Saints make it two wins from two in the Anglo-Welsh competition.
Mallinder sympathised with Foden's frustration at missing out on international selection but believes national boss Johnson will have to take notice if he maintains his current high standards.
Patient
"There is nothing else he can do except, when he has an opportunity to play, play well," said Mallinder.
"I don't think Martin Johnson would have been watching this game but Ben is playing well for us and that's all he can do.
"He's a little bit frustrated but he has to be patient. They (England) have had an opportunity to watch him before the autumn internationals and they have made their decision.
"But it will probably need an injury for him to find his way in for next week."
A second-string Saracens team took a 3-0 lead early on thanks to Alex Goode, but Foden's spectacular 50-yard break and grubber kick through to Ashton saw Northampton surge ahead in the 24th minute and they did not relinquish their lead for the remainder of the match.
Foden was also critical in bringing about Reihana's 55th-minute try, with Stephen Myler kicking the rest of the home side's points.
"This game is all about winning and gaining momentum," said Mallinder. "What we didn't want to do was lose two games in the middle of the season.
"We were really pleased because we managed to rest a few players last weekend and still sneak a win against the Ospreys and then come here and back that up with a second win."
Vital decisions
Saracens director of rugby Brendan Venter hit out at referee Gwyn Morris, who gave Tom Mercey a yellow card towards the end of the opening half.
"Northampton bring the full metal jacket but there were a couple of vital decisions going against us," said Venter.
"The sin-binning decision before half-time was unbelievably harsh and there were a couple of decisions in the second half where the referee saw things very differently to what we did.
"I thought the crowd and their scrum-half got to the referee and his touch judges. That's a dilemma.
"At half-time in the Guinness Premiership we have the right to give referees a piece of paper when we think there are problems and we can debate it.
"We don't have the opportunity in the LV= Cup. It's going to be something the Anglo-Welsh system has to look at."
