Jim Mallinder has praised his players' self-discipline following Northampton's European Challenge Cup victory.
Director of rugby delighted with restraint shown by his players
Jim Mallinder has praised his players' self-discipline following Northampton's European Challenge Cup final victory against Bourgoin.
England hooker Dylan Hartley was targeted by the French side in a tempestuous 15-3 triumph at Twickenham Stoop that saw substitute Thomas Genevois sent off for punching Courtney Lawes.
Replacement lock Lawes kept his cool after Genevois' cheap shot and Hartley was also able to do the same in the face of some intense provocation.
"Dylan was as good today as he has been all season. Other teams do look at Dylan and he gets harshly treated," he said.
"Other teams pick on him but he's learnt how to keep his composure and keep his head. He did well out there."
England Saxons fly-half Steve Myler landed all five penalties to secure only Saints' second piece of silverware and their first since winning the Heineken Cup in 2000.
Skirmishes
But the match will be remembered for the frequent skirmishes that also resulted in yellow cards for Neil Best and Morgan Parra, though several more could have been shown.
"There are a few battered and bruised players in the changing room but that doesn't matter so much when you've won something," said Mallinder.
"We didn't have to wind them up. We knew they would be fiery so we talked about keeping our discipline and composure and that's what we did.
"Myler kicked the goals effectively. It's a physical game and we had to be physical. Sometimes there's a fine line to tread but we did that well tonight."
Bourgoin assistant coach Xavier Pemeja rounded on referee George Clancy, meanwhile, claiming Lawes should have been sent off for a late tackle on Parra, who suffered a shoulder injury in the incident.
"The first scrum of the match, if that had been in France we would have won the penalty," he said.
"I don't want to criticise the referee but he was lost. The first duty of the referee is to protect the security of the players but he forgot that.
"It was a clear late tackle on Parra who now has a serious injury. That should have been a red card."
