Saints star Wood: 'We're not a million miles away'

Tom Wood insists Saints are 'not a million miles away' from finally ending their long wait for a win.
Tom WoodTom Wood
Tom Wood

The black, green and gold have suffered late heartache in each of their past two matches, losing 18-17 at Bristol Bears before being edged out 16-12 by Bordeaux-Bègles last Friday evening.

Those defeats have taken Saints' losing streak to 11 matches, and they have won just two of their past 18 games.

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But Wood, who skippered Saints in their Champions Cup opening night loss, said: "It's amazing really because despite the run of form the boys are still tight together and the goes for the whole backroom staff and coaches as well.

"We genuinely believe in what we're doing and we've got the personnel and structures and a good energy all week.

"We turn up to training on a Monday and we're honest with each other about where things went wrong and we've actually been building really positively for the most part and that's why it's so disheartening when a result goes against you.

"It knocks the wind out of your sails when it feels like everything is coming back in the right direction.

"But we've got no choice but to dust ourselves down.

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"We've got Leinster this week and then into a brutal run of what feel like must-win Premiership games.

"We've got no choice but to wear the hurt and then get back to work.

"We're not a million miles away - the close scorelines over the past couple of weeks show that.

"If we'd won by a point in the past two weeks we'd have been pretty buoyed and positive and feeling like the momentum was beginning to swing.

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"We just need to get on the right side of a couple of results and hopefully that will lift everybody and get us back on a winning streak again."

Saints led for almost the entire game against Bordeaux but Santiago Cordero snatched victory six minutes from time after picking up a rebound from a penalty that hit the post.

And Wood added: "It's a bit raw because we worked so hard for no return again and that's been typical of since we've been back post-Covid.

"A lot of effort went in at Sale (on the opening day of the Gallagher Premiership season), the defeat to Harlequins was a very disappointing result but at Bristol it was a brutally physical game in which the boys emptied themselves physically and to have nothing to show for it was pretty tough to take."

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