Collecting their first win over Leicester Tigers since 2014 yesterday as they racked up a 24-11 victory over the closest Aviva Premiership neighbours, Saints’ attentions are quickly turning to the task in hand as they prepare to face Bath on Friday night.
Jamie Gibson said that to beat Tigers was huge for the squad though and that they were happy to have righted the wrongs of the previous week’s defeat to Saracens at Twickenham.
“I’m really proud of the squad,” Gibson commented after the final whistle at Franklin’s Gardens yesterday.
“We were quite down after last week, we went out and didn’t show ourselves in the right place. To be honest we were a bit embarrassed after that Saracens game and we knew that being at home for an East Midlands derby against a side like Leicester was our chance to put things right.
“We came out from minute one, we set the tone and we had them for 80 minutes so I’m immensely proud of the squad for that.”
With Tigers only crossing the whitewash in the game’s dying minutes with a fluke chase from Jonny May, Gibson said that the pressure Saints applied to their guests was something they had worked hard to achieve in training.
“We worked hard, really highlighted where we went wrong last week and we put that right this week.
“In that first 50 or 60 minutes we put the pressure on them and kept that pressure on them. There wasn’t a minute of that game where we switched off, there wasn’t a single moment of that game where we took the pressure off and it showed in the last ten minutes.
“They were starting to run into walls, they didn’t get a look in because we never gave them the chance. So like I said, I’m immensely proud of the squad, we fronted up today and showed where we should be.”
Having played on both sides of the East Midlands derby, Gibson’s first win over Leicester was something he said meant a lot.
“That’s actually the first time I’ve beaten Leicester in any game before.
“We highlighted this week that for the last 10/12 years Leicester have won the majority of the East Midlands derby games and those are the games that always matter.
“You see it in the fans, you see it during the week, people talking about it a little bit more, people really focus on it.”
With the Franklin’s Faithful really turning on the noise at the Gardens yesterday, Gibson said that that support is what really drives the team forwards as they take to the Northampton turf.
“When you go out and you’ve got the crowd behind you, that noise from them was brilliant today. This club has been one of the bigger clubs in the country for years and we let them down massively last week but we showed today that we can play, showed them what we can do.
“We need to show them that we can maintain it now but if we can do that and keep this place rocking like it was today then we’ll be a very tough side to play against.”
Gibson said that the support is something they team will need once again as they start their short turnaround to Friday night where they face the as yet unbeaten Bath.
“It’s not a very big turnaround and obviously Bath have had two good results so far this season so they’ll be flying. But we’re at home, in the Franklin’s fortress and we’ll just front up again on Friday night and see what happens there.”
Make your voice count this Friday as Saints host Bath for round three of the Aviva Premiership campaign. Tickets for the game are available by CLICKING HERE.
