'We won't win the Premiership like that'
Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:13
Cheering their side no matter what!: Saracens fans cheer their side.
Saracens boss Brendan Venter has made it very clear to his players that the standard of their performance in Sunday's 23-22 defeat to the Dragons was nowhere near good enough if they want to consider themselves Premiership contenders.
Venter, speaking after the LV= Cup match, was brutally honest regarding his sides performance at Vicarage Road and has warned his troops that better will be expected from them in the coming weeks.
"We will not win the Premiership if we play like that and I have told the players it's important that we learn from this experience. If we want to be the best in the league we have to eradicate those mistakes," he said.
"There was no lack of effort out there, it was just that Newport adapted better to the conditions.
"But we knew what we needed which was why Derick Hougaard was brilliant for us at the end. I told him what I wanted him to do when he went on for Glen Jackson, and he did precisely the right thing.
"If we had tried to run the ball at them in that last 10 minutes and turned it over we could have thrown everything away.
"That's when international experience is so valuable, when a player knows the priority on the field and doesn't allow anything to influence him.
"But we did make an awful lot of mistakes after moving into a 6-0 lead early on."
Despite being disappointed with his own sides efforts Venter said he had always expected a stern examination from the Dragons.
Asked if he had underestimated his opponents Venter said: "Absolutely not. I looked at their line-up and told my players they were in for a tough game."
Despite going down, the single point gained from the narrow defeat has seen Saracens progress to the next round of the LV= Cup. Sarries will now face Northampton in the semi-finals on March 14th.
Contact Us | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Advertising
