Jim Mallinder admitted to a slight sense of disappointment at conceding two late second-half tries.
Irish coach admits his side fell well short
Northampton coach Jim Mallinder was delighted to secure a bonus-point victory over London Irish but admitted to a slight sense of disappointment at conceding two late second-half tries.
The game was virtually over as a contest by half-time, as the impressive Saints blew away their closest Premiership pursuers with a 24-point burst in the 17 minutes prior to the interval.
Afer watching his side go eight points clear at the top of the table, Mallinder said: "I'm delighted with a five-point win. It was a good performance, we played some real good stuff in the first half with some good tries.
"But in the second half I was a bit disappointed that we allowed them two tries and they challenged for a bonus point"
Paul Diggin, scorer of two of Saints' four tries, went off after 66 minutes with Mallinder reporting: "It was a very heavy knock to the head but he's sitting up in the dressing room and should be okay."
Standards
London Irish coach Toby Booth added: "We expected to do better than that. We set our own standards but we fell short.
"We had control for the first 10 minutes but we then relinquished control for a long period.
"Northampton are a very talented squad but I'm very disappointed we conceded 32 points in 40 minutes of rugby.
"I was pleased how we responded in adversity but we should not have put ourselves in that position".
