Teimana Harrison credits Northampton Saints after ending losing run
Monday 8 January 2018 08:56, UK
Teimana Harrison reflected on a "very emotional" Northampton dressing room after Saints ended a demoralising run of Aviva Premiership defeats.
A dramatic 22-19 victory over Gloucester at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday was secured by an 80th-minute penalty try, meaning that Northampton avoided an eighth successive league loss.
It also gave recently-appointed technical coaching consultant Alan Gaffney a winning start after he was brought in following rugby director Jim Mallinder's dismissal last month.
And although life is not about to get any easier for Saints - they face European Champions Cup heavyweights Clermont Auvergne and Saracens on the next two weekends - Harrison and company have at least rediscovered a winning formula.
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"It was very emotional," England international Harrison said. "We haven't felt that feeling in a long time.
"We have been on a pretty long losing streak, and to finally get the result and winning feeling was amazing."
Northampton trailed by 11 points midway through the second half, and hopes of a first Premiership success since September 30 appeared slim, but they dug deep when it mattered.
"In previous games we might have put our heads down and maybe not had the right bounce-back that we did this time," said Harrison.
"Credit to the boys, they never gave in. It was an awesome result for us.
"It would have been quite easy to go missing there but like I said, credit to the boys, they dug in deep.
"We spoke about the boys on the bench, the finishers coming on and upping the tempo, I think they did that brilliantly.
"When you go on a losing streak like that, it makes it more difficult. But we are lucky with the squad we've got - the boys are saying the right things at the right times."
Saints cannot progress in their Champions Cup pool after losing all four games in October and December, the next two fixtures will provide opportunities for Gaffney to continue forging a blueprint ahead of Premiership business resuming next month.
"[Gaffney] hasn't so much tweaked anything to do with the way we are playing, he has more come in and said we need to trust in ourselves," said Harrison.
"Everybody is here for a reason - we are all good rugby players, we just need to take that on to the field.
"We need to believe - believe in our skills, believe in ourselves and ultimately trust each other to make the right decisions.
"He has no ties to the club, he comes in and sees what he sees. So it definitely puts the pressure on the boys to put the performance in.
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"Obviously, it is not just the new coach, it is also the fans. They show up every week - some of them even travel to every away game - and to see us losing like we have been, that isn't good for them.
"I definitely want to put a performance in for a new coach, and in front of our loyal fans, it is important to put in a good performance for them."
