Northampton Saints captain George Furbank shared his disappointment with his side’s performance as the men in Black, Green and Gold suffered their first defeat of the Gallagher PREM season away to Bristol Bears.
After losing winger Edoardo Todaro to a 20-minute red card just 90 seconds into the game, Saints struggled to wrestle back any momentum, and the hosts ran in five tries before the break on their way to a 46-12 home win.
“When Bristol are on, they’re a pretty hard team to stop,” Furbank said. “With us going to 14 for 20 minutes, they got a bit of a roll on. Ultimately, we weren’t at the races for the first 40.
“We didn’t move well enough, Phil Dowson said we probably looked a bit soft as well, and that’s probably the most disappointing thing.
“We spoke this year about wanting to be a team that could go away from home and kick the door down, going out swinging, but we didn’t do that.
For Furbank, Saturday marked his return to the Gallagher PREM for the first time this season and a first full 80-minute performance as well.
“I feel like I’m trusting my body a bit more,” the fullback continued. “So to get 80 under my belt is nice.
“Waking up a day after a game and feeling a bit sore is a feeling you sort of miss. It’s nice to be back, but it was a frustrating one.
“For me, it was about trusting my calf again, thinking about getting whacked and waking up and trusting the rest of my body again. I’m hoping I can keep building now and put a bit of a run together.”
For Saints, attention now turns to the beginning of a new Investec Champions Cup season as the men in Black, Green and Gold get their campaign underway away at the Top 14 league leaders, Section Paloise.
“We’ll be excited to have the (England) boys back in this week,” Furbank added. “Hopefully refreshed after a week off and go into another European journey.
“In the past couple of seasons, Europe has been good to us; we’ve enjoyed those experiences of going away from home.
“Pau are flying at the moment, and it’s their first time in the Champions Cup as well, so it’s going to be very exciting and a good place to play.
“We’ve got a tough group, so we'll take it game by game and hopefully make some more memories in the competition.
“They’re unbelievable atmospheres, and it feels more like a football atmosphere than a rugby atmosphere. Hopefully, we can relish that and go there and perform”