Despite leading for most of the game yesterday, Saints had to work hard to keep their guests Connacht out during their European Champions Cup play-off semi-final to earn the chance to battle it out with Stade Francais next Friday (May 26th) for top-flight European rugby next season.
Man of the match for the second game in a row, Courtney Lawes said that while Saints knew they had their European fate firmly in their own hands and had a good chance of progressing to next week’s play-off final, Connacht proved to be a tough challenge.
“Connacht are a good side," Lawes commented to SaintsTV after yesterday's game.
"They came our ready, they were ready to play and they played some great rugby today.
“They’ve got a pretty electric back line, we thought we might be able to target the forwards and I thought we did that quite well today.
“It’s never completely in your own hands because you’ve got to play a good team out there but we did what we had to today.
“It wasn’t the best performance that we put in but we came away with the win which is the most important thing.
“I’m getting some MOMs which is good but I’m just playing the best I can for the boys and it’s going well."
Looking ahead to next Friday and the challenge of State Francais, Lawes simply said:
“We’ll be there. We’ll be ready. We’re looking forward to it.”
Saints host Stade Francais next Friday (May 26th) in the European Champions Cup play-off final for the chance to earn the last spot in the top-tier of European rugby next season. Ticket for Friday's game are now available to collect for 17/18 Season Ticket Holders as well as being available to purchase on general sale. CLICK HERE for all the information.
