James Craig has praised the development qualities of the Premiership Rugby Cup, as a young Northampton Saints side overcame a 21-point deficit to defeat Nottingham Rugby 31-29 at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens.
Despite trailing 26-5 at the break, Northampton rallied to produce a spectacular comeback in the second half – with a decisive late score from 20-year-old hooker Craig Wright sealing maximum points.
Saints headed into Round 2 of this season’s competition with a matchday 23 whose average age was just 22.7, and coach Craig insisted that despite struggling to find their feet in the first 40 minutes, the lessons learned in the comeback win will be some of the most valuable to Northampton’s young squad.
Craig said: “The first half was one of the worst halves of rugby we've played this year so we didn't want to repeat that.
“We had been too loose with the ball, and we were too soft defensively in that first half, which will sting a little bit for the lads so there will be lessons there.
“Things definitely needed saying at half-time, they were said, and the lads responded really well in the second half. We saw plenty of attacking intent and ability with the ball.
“Yes mistakes are going to happen, and we weren't as accurate as we want to be in the future, but there were some great signs of lads trying to do our game as well as they possibly could.”
James Craig
Craig stepped into the Director of Rugby role for the clash against Nottingham as the Club continue to implement their development plan both on and off the pitch, and the former Saints lock – who made 17 of his 73 appearances in Black, Green and Gold in the Cup competition – understands the importance of the competition in providing gametime to a fledgling rugby player.
He said: “They need nights like these to show where they're at and where they need to develop their game.
“To take the next step up, you need to be more accurate and better at executing your skill.”
What a try to win the match 🥵
— Northampton Saints 😇 (@SaintsRugby) November 10, 2024
Craig Wright produced this incredible finish to complete the comeback against Nottingham. pic.twitter.com/nInn2tDjOw
Craig continued: “We had five debutants in this match and plenty more last week, so these past two weeks have been great to get those lads debuts and time in a Saints shirt with lots of experienced players around them.
“They haven't just been chucked in with other Academy guys and they will have learned a lot in the past two weeks.
“We've picked up two bonus-point wins as well so that's really positive.”
