Rowntree: Munster must win at Saints

Rowntree saw his side produce a strong performance in an 18-13 defeat at home to Toulouse last weekend.

Saints were also beaten, but by a much heavier margin as they lost 46-12 at Heineken Champions Cup holders La Rochelle.

And Rowntree said: “We’ve got to win this game in Northampton.

“I’m delighted to get that losing bonus point. It wasn’t the intent before the game but we drive forward.

"We’ve got to win the game. We’ve got to win in Northampton.

“They’ll be licking their wounds as well.

"They’re at home and they can play, they can score tries. I know all their coaching crew, they’re good lads, I’ve got a lot of respect for them.

“But we’ll deal with that at the back end of the week.

"We’ll tidy the game up and put the game to bed over the next few days, lick our wounds as I keep saying, and we’ll keep driving forward.”

Munster are starting to make strides under Rowntree, having climbed the BKT URC table thanks to back-to-back bonus-point victories against Connacht and Edinburgh.

And the head coach is eager to ensure the momentum his men have gained in the league does not dissolve in Europe, despite the defeat to Toulouse.

'No, I won't let that happen," Rowntree said. "No. We're not going to let that happen.

"That (the Toulouse game) is about a tough a test as you'll get in world rugby. We'll learn from it.

"We could have beaten them. We'll fix what we can and keep making improvements but no.”

Munster saw Keith Earls return against Toulouse after 11 weeks out and they appear to have come through the clash unscathed.

Now they will be working on their weaknesses as they bid to see off Saints.

“How about the breakdown?” Rowntree said, when asked what needs to be worked on this week. “We spoke about that and they were shooting out of defence.

"They were very good. We’ll look at that.

“That’s a proper test that, against a great French team. Top of the league in France for a reason.

"That’s like playing an international (side), challenges everywhere, from their power game to the breakdown to defence.

“We’ll look at what we can do better. There was some good stuff we did there, some good stuff.

"We’ve got to look at what we can do better when they are on our try line and what we can do better when we’re camped on their try line.”