Two points at Saracens 'a good achievement' for Saints after stirring late fightback

Chris Boyd was happy with the 'resilience and grit' his side showed at times against Saracens on Saturday evening.
Chris BoydChris Boyd
Chris Boyd

But the Saints boss has warned that the 42-38 defeat at StoneX Stadium was far removed from what his side would face in a Gallagher Premiership play-off semi-final should they get there.

Saints remain in pole position to finish fourth as they are two points clear of Gloucester in the league standings heading into the final day of the regular season.

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Boyd's side will host Newcastle Falcons on June 4, while Gloucester are at home to Saracens, who have now secured a home semi-final – as have Leicester Tigers.

Harlequins will finish third, meaning one spot is remaining.

And Saints have given themselves a good chance of taking it after fighting back from 42-17 down to take a losing bonus point and a try bonus point at Saracens.

"We showed some real resilience and grit because we could easily have been 20 points down in the first half," said Boyd, who saw his team go in 10-9 up at the break despite losing Alex Coles and Lewis Ludlam to the sin bin.

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"Saracens came out firing in the second half and we didn't respond very well.

"We then decided to free it up and it's a pretty good achievement to get two bonus points from where we were.

"We're just concentrating on Newcastle now, but if we were to get through to the semi-finals, they won't be played like that - it will be a much bigger grind.

"Semi-finals are like that and nothing like the last 20 minutes that we had here."

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Saints fly-half Dan Biggar, who was back in the team after serving a two-game suspension, also gave his reaction to the win at Saracens.

"We decided to chance our arm at the end but it's quite disappointing to score 38 points and come away losing," Biggar said.

"We started well in the first half but were really sloppy in the first 20 mins of the second half.

"We've got Newcastle at home on the final day and we'd have taken this position if we were offered it, but we still have a big job to do."