Saints not taking Bristol lightly
Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:20
Northampton Saints and Bristol clash in an all-England Pool Two affair at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday with Jim Mallinder, the Saints Director of Rugby, determined to maintain their winning momentum.
Despite a 10-33 Premiership defeat at the hands of Gloucester last weekend, the Saints marched through to the EDF Energy Cup semifinals, and are currently leading their Euro Challenge Cup Pool after two bonus-point wins.
"We started the European Challenge Cup very well with two good results against Toulon and Montpellier," said Mallinder.
"They offered something different from what we had been used to in England and I was delighted with the way our players responded to the new challenges in front of them.
"The Challenge Cup is a good opportunity for us to continue our development as a team. It is an important competition and we will certainly be working our hardest for a good performance and result on Saturday afternoon.
"But Bristol will be an extremely difficult challenge for us this weekend. They beat us in the Premiership three weeks ago and were unlucky to lose last weekend against London Irish.
"Even though we are playing Bristol five times at first team level this season there is no complacency in our preparation. In the two games we have played each other they have put out two different teams and this makes planning very interesting!
"Regardless of what team Richard Hill puts out we know that Bristol will have backs with skill and pace and forwards with experience and power. Two wins in Rounds Three and Four will put them right in the frame for the quarterfinals, which makes the game at Franklin's Gardens very important."
With thanks to ercrugby.com
