Saints starting to make Gardens a stronghold again

Teimana Harrison believes Saints are slowly starting to make teams fear playing at Franklin's Gardens again.
Teimana Harrison helped Saints to beat Castres at Franklin's Gardens (pictures: Sharon Lucey)Teimana Harrison helped Saints to beat Castres at Franklin's Gardens (pictures: Sharon Lucey)
Teimana Harrison helped Saints to beat Castres at Franklin's Gardens (pictures: Sharon Lucey)

Harrison scored twice as Jim Mallinder’s men overcame Castres 28-21 in Saturday’s Champions Cup clash in Northampton.

Stephen Myler and Tom Wood were also on the scoresheet as Saints avenged October’s 41-7 defeat at Stade Pierre Antoine.

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It was a third successive home win for Jim Mallinder’s men, who had suffered disappointing home losses to the likes of Bath and Newcastle Falcons earlier in the campaign.

Teimana Harrison scored twice against CastresTeimana Harrison scored twice against Castres
Teimana Harrison scored twice against Castres

And Harrison said: “The last block of Europeans we let ourselves down and we let the club down.

“We got thrashed (by Leinster) two games in a row and we went to Castres in the block before that and they beat us pretty good.

“We spoke about making Franklin’s Gardens a fortress and teams dreading playing here, and we’re slowly getting there, getting back to the Saints of old.”

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Saints had secured a bonus-point 32-26 win against Bristol at the Gardens a week earlier.

Teimana Harrison scored twice against CastresTeimana Harrison scored twice against Castres
Teimana Harrison scored twice against Castres

But Harrison said: “This was a step up from last week.

“We started the game very well. We spoke about bringing tempo into it and being clinical when we were in the right areas.

“Obviously we missed a few points and could have been better, but overall we set out to do what we thought we could do.”