Saints: Job not done yet
Victory over London Welsh may have secured Northampton Saints top spot in the Premiership for the first time in their history, but Director of Rugby Jim Mallinder admits that feat will mean little unless his side defend their title.
The Exiles frustrated Northampton during the first half at Franklin's Gardens, before Lee Dickson's try and Ken Pisi's sublime break to set up Ahsee Tuala gave the hosts a 17-0 lead at the interval.
After Dickson's second effort, a late onslaught saw Luther Burrell cross over twice in quick succession to claim the bonus point before Jamie Elliott also touched down in a 46-0 triumph.
The result guarantees Saints first place and a home semifinal this campaign ahead of an intriguing derby clash against Leicester Tigers at Welford Road in the final day of the regular season next weekend.
And with Tigers also potential semifinal opponents following their win against Wasps, Mallinder insists his side need to keep building on their current form to retain their Premiership crown.
"We did what we needed to do to get the five points and make sure we finish first then we need to have a good think about what we want to do next weekend," he said.
"Maybe we were just a bit edgy and trying a little bit too hard to score but a lot of credit must go to London Welsh, particularly in the first half they defended well, they got stuck into our mauls and stopped us scoring when we were close to their line.
"But we were pretty confident that in the second half if we could keep playing and look after the ball with the wind behind us that we'd open them up.
"We've talked about little targets, little goals week by week and we said it would be fantastic to finish top and we've achieved that now.
"But it's amazing how quickly you need to move on in terms of not being satisfied with just that, so we're delighted but not content because we know we've got another job to do.
"It is pleasing to finish top for the first time in the club's history, but we know it is all about winning the Premiership.
"You have got to win a home semifinal and then take that to Twickenham.
"We are where we want to be; we have a home semifinal, with a game to go which is awesome, but we need to make sure we get ourselves right for that semifinal."
After going toe-to-toe with the reigning champions during the first half, London Welsh head coach Rowland Phillips insists there is plenty for his team to take heart from as they look to build for the future.
"This game was about learning for us and looking to take positives out of the game to build on for next season," he said.
"We have signed some good players for next season. We want to retain as many players from the current squad as possible, and then look to compliment them.
"We don't have a formula, you know what you need for your team to be competitive – we need to keep the spine of what we have here."
Source: @premrugby
