Alex Coles called on Northampton Saints to find their consistency again as they enter the second half of the Gallagher Premiership season, following a 39-24 defeat to Saracens in Round 8.
The men in Black, Green and Gold crashed back to reality at StoneX Stadium on Sunday after claiming back-to-back wins in the Investec Champions Cup, finding themselves 24-0 adrift at half-time.
While Northampton clawed back a try-scoring bonus point thanks to second-half efforts from Tommy Freeman, Tom Pearson, Ollie Sleightholme and Archie McParland, a comeback was already out of reach.
After the clash, Coles said: “We didn’t win enough of the battles out there on the pitch, as individuals and as a team. We didn’t look after the ball when we had it, and then they won the ball back from us too easily from kicks and at the breakdown.
“That meant we were camped in our own half for most of the game and good teams like Saracens will punish you if you give them that opportunity.”
Alex Coles
Saints came back into the domestic competition riding the high of a first-ever win in South Africa – where Northampton defeated Vodacom Bulls 30-21 in a thrilling encounter – but continued to struggle with consistency on their return to the Premiership.
The defeat to Saracens marked Saints’ seventh consecutive away loss in the league, and while Northampton’s record at home has been a different story over the last 12 months, Coles insists it a consistent run of form that has to be top of the priority list for Saints after Christmas.
“It’s a horrible feeling to be honest,” Coles continued. “To go away against the Bulls and produce a performance like we did there, then turn around and produce a 40 minutes like that first half is so frustrating.
“We know how good we can be but we’re just searching for what’s going to make us consistent every week.
“We showed in that game in small parts that we can do it, we got four tries in the second half.
“We know that if we’d been anywhere close, in with a shout at the end of the first half, we could have won that game, but we didn’t do that and that’s so frustrating.”
Alex Coles
“We’ve won from those kinds of positions before. But the game is going to ebb and flow, and Saracens took their moments in the second half too, so that points difference from the first half was just too much. We gave them way too much in the first half.”
Northampton go into the last match of 2024 in eighth position in the Premiership table, but the men Black, Green and Gold still have their sights set on a knock-out place come the end of term.
Ten points now separate Saints from fourth-placed Leicester Tigers, so Coles knows that Saints must rise to challenge and put together a string of solid performances in 2025 to achieve their goal.
Coles added: “The table doesn’t lie. I’m certain we’ll get a response against Newcastle but it’s a question of ‘can we do it every week’?
“It’s easy to get up for an away game in Europe, against teams like the Bulls; it’s easy to get up for those one-off games. But when it’s week in, week out, attritional in the Premiership, can we deliver every week? That’s the challenge.
“Against Newcastle we’ll definitely get that response from Saracens but then we’ve just got to keep going.”
