Dingwall: No excuses for Saints’ slow start at Quins

Fraser Dingwall offered no excuses for Northampton Saints’ slow start at Harlequins as a below-par first-half performance proved costly in their 35-29 defeat in south London.

Saints were up against it from the early stages of the contest at the Twickenham Stoop, as two tries in the first seven minutes opened up a 14-0 lead for the hosts.

Unfortunately for the men in Black, Green and Gold, they were unable to show the same clinical edge despite having most of the possession in the remainder of the half and they turned around 21-10 down.

Dingwall admitted his side continued to give points away too cheaply after the break as well, as they fell just short despite a strong final 20 minutes in which they forced Quins onto the back foot.

“The first half is not a reflection of what we want to be at all,” the centre said. “It was a great example of us getting into the right areas and giving the ball away just too cheaply over and over again.

Saints showed considerable improvement after a tricky start to the second half, in which they lost Lukhan Sakalaia-Loto to the sin bin and conceded a fourth try to their hosts.

They flickered back into life with a try from Tommy Freeman, who equalled a Gallagher Premiership record by crossing the whitewash for the eighth consecutive match.

However, they continued to miss clear try-scoring opportunities before finally hinting towards their best form when scores by George Furbank and Tom James left Harlequins sweating in the closing stages.

Dingwall added: “That’s the really frustrating thing about it, because when we get things right, we’re really creating chances.

“We don’t need to go forcing things because when we play well, we create so much and things are going to come our way.

“It just makes it even more frustrating that the opportunities are there, we’re going to get them, we’re going to take them, so we don’t need to go searching or force things as much.”

The defeat against Quins marked a second loss in as many weeks for Saints against sides who also reached last season’s Gallagher Premiership semi-finals.

And Dingwall is well aware that Northampton need to find a way to regularly beat sides of that calibre if they are to kick on this term.

“The biggest frustration for us is that we’re coming close, but we haven’t beaten the top sides in the league, especially over the last two weeks,” he said.

“You can get away with scratchy performances when you’re playing sides who aren’t pushing at the higher end of the table, whereas when you play the top teams – like Leicester, Quins or Sarries – you have to play well for 80 minutes.

“You can’t give good sides head starts because it’s too far to come back. We want to be in the top two, we want to be in the top four, and that means we need to beat the top sides.”