Dingwall: Saints must demand more of themselves despite Gloucester win

Stand-in Northampton Saints captain Fraser Dingwall admitted it was a moment of good fortune which led to him rounding off one of the tries of the season against Gloucester.

Saints were well and truly in the mood for the majority of the second half of their 41-34 victory over the Cherry and Whites at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, in which they sprinted clear of their visitors after going into half-time level at 10-10.

They had already crossed the whitewash five times before they struck what was unquestionably their most spectacular score of the afternoon in the 68th minute.

A ricochet off Dingwall’s kick in the Gloucester half was gathered by Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, and after a couple of sumptuous offloads by him and Rory Hutchinson, quick hands by Sam Graham and Callum Braley put Dingwall in the clear.

Dingwall said: “I was quite lucky in the end because I had shinned a kick and then I got it back about three passes later. I’ll take it but I wouldn’t say it started that well!

“In attack, we did some really good stuff and got some really good stuff on the pitch. As ever, it’s about how we can maximise that for 80 minutes and really put sides to bed.

“Three wins on the bounce is really positive, we now go to Bristol on Friday night and they’re obviously off the back of a strong win [at Bath], so we’ll take them on and have a good crack.”

Given Dingwall’s effort took the score to an imposing 41-15 going into the closing stages, he would not have expected it to ultimately be the deciding try.

That, unfortunately, was down to Saints dropping away from the standard they had set after half-time, which resulted in Gloucester scoring three late tries to snatch two bonus points.

When asked if the players had mixed feelings after the final whistle, despite the positive result, Dingwall said: “It’s frustration in a positive manner because of where this side wants to be.

“We’re trying to demand of ourselves more than what we got out of that last ten minutes.

“Probably from minute 40 to 70 we put exactly what we wanted on the pitch and we managed the game really nicely, but that last ten minutes was poor by our standard and to give them two bonus points was frustrating to be honest.”

Despite those late lapses, this was Saints’ third straight win in the Gallagher Premiership and it has put their fate firmly in their hands when it comes to the race for the play-offs.

The men in Black, Green & Gold remain third and are now five points clear of fifth-placed Exeter Chiefs with five fixtures of the regular season remaining.

The knowledge of how tight things remain in the campaign’s run-in was one of the things that contributed to some of the frustration the players felt after their slack finish to the game.

Dingwall said: “They walk away with two bonus points and suddenly it’s a three-point swing in the league table rather than a five-point swing in our favour.

“I think if we were offered it before the game, we’d have taken it, but obviously now it is a little bit bittersweet.”