Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder admitted his players had to dig deep to secure their 32-22 LV= Cup win over the Ospreys.
Northampton boss admits the Ospreys had his side in trouble
Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder admitted his players had to dig deep to secure their 32-22 LV= Cup win over the Ospreys.
The Saints trailed by nine points at half-time before fighting back to seal a bonus-point victory with some of their World Cup players - including double tryscorer Dylan Hartley - coming to the fore.
And Mallinder admitted that a young Ospreys side had Northampton in trouble before the visitors turned the match around.
"It was very tough. I was really impressed with a good Ospreys side. They made life very difficult for us," Mallinder said.
"We were very pleased to come away with the win and the bonus point.
"They got numbers at the breakdown and disrupted our ball. They got penalties and kicked their goals, and that put us under pressure. It wasn't ideal going into half-time 19-10 down but we always had confidence.
Important
"Some of these players we haven't seen for three or four months so it was important to get them back."
Stand-in Ospreys coach Steve Tandy said he was proud of his young side's performance against an experienced Northampton outfit that included several internationals.
"Obviously we're disappointed with the result but, all in all, there were some really top performances out there," he said.
"We showed a lot of courage, effort and a lot of good skills. At times we really did front up. We conceded a couple of tries which is something we'll look back on as something we wouldn't like to concede.
"It's been a great tournament for us and we've found a lot about our players.
"It's a great learning experience. When we saw the Northampton team we were all really pleased to see those names coming down to Bridgend.
"To have those names coming to Bridgend and our boys getting that support from Bridgend was fantastic."
