Saints staying positive, says centurion Collins

The black, green and gold were beaten 18-17 by Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate on Friday night as a last-gasp penalty from Sam Bedlow won it for the home side.

It means Saints have now lost 10 successive matches in all competitions ahead of the start of their Champions Cup campaign against Bordeaux-Bègles at Franklin's Gardens on Friday evening.

And Collins, who made his 100th Northampton appearance in the game against Bristol, said: "The buzz out there was great on Friday and we need to make that consistent.

"I feel like in the previous two weeks we were a bit inconsistent with our defence and attack but on Friday it came together quite well.

"We're at a point where things aren't quite going our way but it'll turn around.

"We've got the group among us and the talent to beat any team on our day.

"We'll stay positive, stay confident and the wins will come."

Saints had led 14-0 against Bristol, racing ahead thanks to tries from David Ribbans and Piers Francis.

They led all the way until the final minute, but it wasn't to be as Bristol snatched the spoils.

And Collins said: "It was frustrating and the past two weeks have been frustrating because we've been working hard as a group and then we come out and give a performance like that and I felt like we were on top of them pretty much the whole game until the final five or 10 minutes.

"There were a few silly penalties and they got back in the game.

"It is frustrating but we need to stay confident, stay positive because we've shown what we can do against one of the top four teams in the league.

"We've got to push on now.

"We've got to come in and get ready for next week.

"It's another tournament now and we can go out there, tear up and get into them."