‘I couldn’t be happier’ – Young

Editor

Accurate decision making was the key for Wasps in their 24-11 victory over Northampton at Franklin Grounds on Friday evening.

Director of Rugby at Wasps Dai Young was especially pleased with his side's first half performance.

"I couldn't be happier," Young said.

"I think a lot of the boys have stepped in, have been really hungry for some rugby and they showed what it meant to them to play for Wasps.

"I think the first half was excellent, there was some real accuracy out there. I thought in the second half we had control, not quite as dominant as we were in the first half but we've got to enjoy it.

"It had been ten years since we won here so hopefully it won't be ten more before we do again.

"We thought we had to play. You can't invite the Saints onto you, their set-piece is too good for that. If you give them field position you'll come unstuck.

"But we had to play when it was on and I think the boys really made the right decisions, I thought they really attacked when the gaps and the space was there and we were really accurate to finish it off.

"I couldn't have asked any more from them. All the questions that we asked of them before the game, they went and answered."

On the other hand, Northampton boss Jim Mallinder was unhappy with his side's reaction in the second half after trailing 24-3 at half-time.

"It was terrible, particularly at home," he said.

"You never like to lose but that type of defeat, the first half we just didn't turn up. You expect in a home game against one of your close competitors that the team would be up for it."

Mallinder pointed out that the home-side were just 'too flat', adding: "We made a number of changes as they did, hoping there would be energy but we had no energy.

"We were flat in the first half, defensively terrible, the set-piece we didn't get right at all and we were always in an uphill battle in the second half.

"We've all asked ourselves the question (as to why they were flat), I've asked the lads. We will do a bit of soul-searching which you do after these big defeats.

"Clearly it's been a short turnaround but it was for Wasps as well so there's no difference there. It's an unacceptable performance.

"A lot of credit to Wasps, their set-piece was very good, they turned over a lot of our ball, George Smith was outstanding and really ran the show.

"There were real leadership qualities coming from him and they took their opportunities and we deserved to lose the game."