Cementing their place firmly within the top six of the Aviva Premiership with last night’s bonus point win of the road at Sale Sharks, Saints are now back in contention to push for a top four finish when the competition returns in three weeks’ time.
Stephen Myler said that last night’s win was enjoyable for the squad, especially winning at the AJ Bell where they have struggled to get results in recent years.
“It was really enjoyable,” he told SaintsTV after the game.
“It's a tough place to come and traditionally we haven't been good here.
“It was very difficult conditions but we came with a bit of a plan, the forwards were exceptional with the platform they gave us and outside that the backs worked pretty smartly.
"It took us to the last bit of the game to get that fourth try but it was a really pleasing performance and a good win.”
With the rain lashing down for most of the game and winds circling overhead too, it was unsurprising that the game went scoreless until the 28th minute. Myler said that while that might not have been enjoyable to watch it was important for Saints to establish an attacking territory.
“It was really slippy under foot, the ball was obviously very wet and difficult to handle; It was much more about territory than attacking, exciting play.
"It probably wasn't very enjoyable to watch from a neutral point of view in that first half an hour but we wanted to relieve the pressure from ourselves when we were under pressure and similarly put them under pressure when we could and I thought we did that pretty well.”
Myler also credited the forwards for their gritty performance under pressure and in testing conditions, commenting that their hard work gave him and the backs a platform off which the possession could come more easily.
“It's easy to find those spaces in behind if you're in the right parts of the field and the set piece was pretty good at that tonight.
“Obviously there's always bits to work on and a few things that potentially we could have done better but on the whole I thought the forwards were really outstanding.
“And the nitty gritty work that you need to spot on with on a night as difficult as tonight was spot on, I thought they were exceptional so big reps to them.”
With the much needed win boosting them up into fifth place, ahead of seventh place Harlequins by seven points before the rest of this weekend’s games, Saints are now back in contention for a top four finish.
Myler said that the win today was a great boost, with the bonus point adding to that, and that the feeling around that Saints camp was a good one.
“We'd have taken any win today. We've not been very good here in recent years gone by and we needed a win to get ourselves back up the league table.
“The bonus point was just that, it was a bonus, but it was one we feel like we deserved.
"We played really simply, really accurately and stuck together as a 23. There's a really good feeling in the squad now.”
