Two-try Smith happy to help Saints show their fight in win against Bath

Smith delivered a man of the match showing packed with physicality and precision as the black, green and gold bounced back from their Bristol shocker in style.

Saints scored six tries on the night, with Smith dotting down twice from dominant lineout drives.

And the hooker, who had been rested for the 62-8 defeat at the Bears seven days earlier, said: "We spoke about that game not being us, it was just a blip, and these things happen.

"We spoke about getting a reaction this week - and that was what we got.

"We didn't make it easy for ourselves at times, but the fight we showed as a group was exactly what we asked for.

"Dows (Saints boss Phil Dowson) just says the next thing is the most important thing, whether that's a gym session, a training session or a game.

"We're just looking at what's in front of us and that's all we can do.

"The next thing now is Monday and preparing for the next game (at London Irish on March 25) so if we keep going like that we should be in a good place."

On his two-try night, Smith, who joined Saints from Newcastle Falcons last summer, added: "My job's easy - I just put it down at the back.

"It was nice to get our maul going against a good defensive maul side and obviously we got on the scoreboard early."