Saints draw confidence from recent Welford Road record

David Ribbans insists confidence is no issue for Saints ahead of their clash with Leicester Tigers today (kick-off 2pm).
David Ribbans has a history of scoring at Welford RoadDavid Ribbans has a history of scoring at Welford Road
David Ribbans has a history of scoring at Welford Road

The black, green and gold have only won one game since the Gallagher Premiership resumed last month and they are on a run of nine defeats from 11 matches.

But Saints have won on their past three visits to Welford Road.

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And influential lock Ribbans said: "Hopefully we can continue today.

"I've heard about all the old games and all the punch-ups and things like that and they're still a great team with a good coach, who is making some good improvements.

"In recent times, it's been a good fixture for us and we need to continue that.

"It is great to know we can go there and win, but it affects some players more than others.

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"I don't personally look at it like that and I remember when we went to Saracens at the start of the season and we hadn't won there for years and we finally did it.

"So I don't think about the history and the stats.

"But it is nice for everyone to know we've won the last three against them and after struggling for form recently, it is something we can take confidence from."

And he added: "We've just lacked the 80-minute performance or even the 70 or 65-minute performance since the restart.

"We have a great 20 minutes here or there but we haven't been consistent through a game.

"It's something we've focused on.

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"We've focused on ourselves because we believe if we play our best rugby we can beat any team on our day.

"It's obviously tough when the results haven't gone your way but the boys are confident."

Ribbans scored twice in the recent defeat to Exeter and he has scored at Welford Road before.

And when asked how he feels his form has been lately, he said: "It's been all right.

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"I hadn't played for a while because I had an ankle operation and wrist operation and then we had lockdown.

"It ended up being about eight months before I played in that Wasps match last month so it took a bit of time to get a bit of confidence.

"You can't replicate a game in training and now I'm back I'm feeling fit and like I'm playing some good rugby for the team.

"It's tough not getting the results and that's hard on everyone in the team but I'm feeling all right and looking forward to today."