Wood hails Saints after Bristol win

Editor

Tom Wood says Saints are building up good momentum for the rest of the season after a tough couple of weeks.

Northampton claimed a 32-26 win over Bristol on Saturday to clinch their third victory in a row in the Premiership. The win moved them up to fifth on the table as they recovered from consecutive defeats to Leinster in December.

“I think it (the win against Bristol) was pretty big,” Wood said after the game. “We’ve not quite hit our straps this year.

“We’ve not quite been the Saints of old and we’ve had to muddle through these last few weeks. We were in a dark place three weeks ago, but we’ve galvanised, we’ve set ourselves this three-week target and we’ve achieved our minimum target.

“We’re slowly getting our game going and building some confidence. To be out there in front of your home fans and pull through in a game like that, in which we had to fight tooth and nail at times, was really pleasing for us.”

Despite the win Wood said he still felt frustrated after the game.

“Sat in the changing room after the game, a part of me was frustrated because in years gone by we would be thinking about running away with that game in the second half, but it didn’t quite happen. We have to give credit to Bristol. They’re a much-improved outfit, they caused us all sorts of problems and they never let the game get away from them. I think they’re going to cause plenty of problems for teams this year.”