Northampton Saints scrum coach Jaco Pienaar was full of praise for the men in Black, Green and Gold’s hard work in leading them to another convincing 21-49 bonus-point victory over Newcastle Red Bulls on Friday night.
It was an emphatic display from the Saints at Kingston Park, who, despite going down 7-0 early on, would eventually run in seven tries, booking themselves a guaranteed spot in the PREM Rugby Cup semi-finals.
The victory marks Saints’ third successive bonus-point victory in the competition, and South African Pienaar applauded his side’s endeavours in the North East.
“This win came off the back of the effort the players put in, their desire to be physical and things follow from that,” Pienaar explained at the final whistle.
“We said as a group that this is the first trophy we can win this year, and we’re going after it. This group is going well, and there’s no reason to change that.
With 18 players from the Saints wider squad unavailable due to senior or age-grade international duties, this block of fixtures in the PREM Cup has provided opportunities for less familiar names to pull on the famous shirt and impress with their performances.
“The players did so well,” Pienaar continued. “The effort and the intent were really good.
“It’s hard to pick who stood out. I thought Jack (Lewis) did well again. It was only Charlie Ulcoq’s third game, and he went well as a youngster. The more Archie Benson plays, the better he gets. He’s a good player.”
While Leicester Tigers’ victory at the weekend put paid to Saints’ hopes of a home semi-final in the competition, they can boost their chances of home advantage for the final – should they emerge victorious from their semi-final – when they host Saracens in the final pool stage game on Saturday 28 March at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens – a limited number of tickets remain available by clicking HERE.