Mitchell: Saints so excited about European quarter-final

Alex Mitchell says Saints are 'hugely excited' about having the chance to play in a European quarter-final on Saturday night.
Alex MitchellAlex Mitchell
Alex Mitchell

Mitchell was named man of the match as he scored in a dramatic 43-39 last-16 success against the Dragons at Rodney Parade last Saturday.

It meant Saints moved into the last eight, where they will now meet Ulster at Franklin's Gardens this weekend.

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The men from Belfast were easy winners at Harlequins on Sunday evening and haven't lost to anyone other than Leinster - twice - during 2021.

But Saints can't wait to take on a team they haven't faced since winning in Belfast in December 2012.

And Mitchell said: "It's very exciting.

"We've said we're going for this competition.

"We wanted to start by getting the W against the Dragons last weekend and now we can move on to the quarter-finals.

"We're hugely excited."

On the game against the Dragons, during which Saints were 22-3, 32-17 and 39-24 down, Mitchell said: "It was a weird one, up and down for the whole 80 minutes.

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"We struggled in that first 20 and credit to the Dragons because they did well at the set piece, but second half we got some tempo in the game and scored some good tries.

"It was a weird game and one that was probably good for the neutral.

"Both sides struggled to get hold of the game and we were lucky at the end just to nick it.

"It was a tough game.

"We looked sharp when we kept hold of the ball, it was just ill discipline and breakdown errors that let them back into it so we need to work on that.

"We were a bit slow at Worcester early on as well so we need to get better in that first 20."

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