Penalty try was dreadful says Heinz

The win sees the Saints moved above Gloucester into sixth in the Premiership league table.

In a nip and tuck affair, Northampton Saints Stephen Myler kicked two penalties but his side were trailing 12-6 entering the final ten minutes when Saints were awarded a penalty try.

Gloucester wing David Halaifonua was adjudged to have deliberately knocked the ball on and referee Matthew Carley showed him a yellow card and awarded the try.

Myler’s successful conversion gave Saints a 13-12 Premiership Rugby victory.

"The boys are absolutely gutted and so we should be but it shows that we care and I know that we’ll be a determined group come next week,” Heinz said.

"It was always going to be a really close game.

"The conditions were pretty dreadful and I guess it was about the team that could play in the opposition half for long periods and try and get scoring opportunities, whether it be tries or penalties and I thought we did that for large parts so I guess it’s just really disappointing to lose to that penalty try,"

Meanwhile, Director of rugby Jim Mallinder paid tribute to flyhalf Myler after he recorded his 300th appearance for the Saints and was delighted to see his side’s patience pay off in the second half.

"It’s a tremendous achievement, 300 appearances in this professional era," he said.

"Players now move around a lot more and you’re not getting players reaching the milestones that they used to do.

"He’s been a fantastic servant for the club and hopefully he’ll continue to do that in the future.

"I’m very pleased with the win. It was a bit of a dogfight out there, not a pretty game, but very competitive.

"We decided to go into a breeze and up the hill in the first half and we were disappointed to be nine points down at half-time, but we knew we’d still be in the game playing down the hill and so it proved,"

Premiershiprugby.com