Myler upbeat as Saints aim to make most of Gloucester slip by beating rock-bottom Welsh

Stephen Myler insists that Saints have not tried to ‘reinvent the wheel’ during their recovery process from a crushing home defeat against fierce Aviva Premiership rivals Leicester.
SAINTS BOOST - Sale Sharks' Dwayne Peel goes over for a try against Gloucester during the Aviva Premiership match at Salford City Stadium (Picture: Martin Rickett/PA Wire)SAINTS BOOST - Sale Sharks' Dwayne Peel goes over for a try against Gloucester during the Aviva Premiership match at Salford City Stadium (Picture: Martin Rickett/PA Wire)
SAINTS BOOST - Sale Sharks' Dwayne Peel goes over for a try against Gloucester during the Aviva Premiership match at Salford City Stadium (Picture: Martin Rickett/PA Wire)

Saints, who return to league action when they visit relegation-haunted London Welsh on Sunday, have had two weeks to stew over the 36-8 mauling Tigers inflicted on them.

But while it turned up the heat in terms of their play-off prospects, fly-half Myler believes Saints remain on a potential title course, a belief that will have been enhanced further with the fifth-placed Cherry & Whites’ defeat at Sale Sharks on Friday night.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Gloucester’s surprise 32-9 loss at the Salford City Stadium means Saints can open up a five-point gap between them and their west country rivals with just two games to play - providing they secure a bonus point win over Welsh at the Kassam Stadium tomorrow.

“A lot went wrong across the board against Leicester,” said Myler.

“But in the same way that we were poor, Tigers are a great side who put in an exceptional performance on the day and those scorelines can happen.

“We are well aware of the fact that we let ourselves down, and our pride has been dented a bit, but we haven’t tried to reinvent the wheel. It’s just given us a reality check.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“In an ideal world we would have been able to get out there again straightaway, and it was especially frustrating to watch the Heineken Cup quarter-finals last weekend because it was only two years ago that we reached the final.

“But there are positives to take out of having a rest. We are refreshed, and the fact is that we still have a massive opportunity to do something special. We won’t stop fighting for the title until it is mathematically impossible.”

Two of Saints’ remaining three league games are against struggling Welsh and Sale - the other is away to Quins - which is a schedule that should work in their favour.

Indeed, with Gloucester’s Friday night defeat, if Saints were to beat Welsh and follow it up with a Franklin’s Gardens win over Sharks, a play-off place could even be secured before that final-day trip to The Stoop.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But Myler knows Welsh will not roll over at the Kassam Stadium this weekend, despite being a hefty 12 points adrift and looking destined for a swift return to the Championship.

“I have been very impressed with London Welsh,” he added.

“It’s a very tough league table to move up, but that hasn’t changed the fact they’ve worked very hard. It was only a couple of games ago that they nearly pipped Gloucester.

“Earlier in the season at Franklin’s Gardens they were in the game until late on, and I expect the same effort from them this time around, if not more. They are fighting for their Premiership lives.”