O’Shea and Mallinder frustrated by video reviews during Saints win

TAKING HIS TIME - referee Greg Garner (left) frustrated both bosses with his use of the TMO (Picture: Linda Dawson)

Second-half scores from George North and Dylan Hartley gave Northampton their sixth successive home win in this season’s Aviva Premiership.

Those tries brought the game to life after a first half which descended into a scrum battle, with resets the order of the day.

The second half also saw plenty of time wasted as referee Greg Garner turned to the TMO to clear up a few contentious issues.

And O’Shea said: “I’m incredibly frustrated, and I’m sure Jim will be as well, at how much energy is taken out of games by looking at decisions that can be easily made.

“I’m sure we’ll feed back through the right channels when we get the chance rather than me being emotionally charged at the moment - and I am, trust me.”

Mallinder and O’Shea had a brief chat in the Gardens press room after the game with smiles belying their annoyance at some of the dalliance during the game.

The Saints director of rugby said: “It (the TMO review) just seems to take too long.

“I know they need to get it right but I think at one point they were looking at three different things.

“It was a competitive game and there was plenty going on, but it just seems to take too long and it takes out the flow of the game.”