Steve Borthwick praised the entire Leicester Tigers squad after derby victory on Saturday while also promising to continue to focus on where improvements can be made.
After Tigers scored seven tries in a 55-26 triumph for a seventh win of the Gallagher Premiership season, head coach Borthwick said: “To win against a tough team like Saints, it is a big effort from everybody. That’s not just the players here, but the players not here today who have prepared this week, and I’m very grateful to all them.
“Northampton are a very good team. We knew it was going to be a tough game and it certainly was that. Both teams played a physical game, carried hard, tackled hard, played the game really hard, and I have enormous respect for them, both sets of players.”
The Tigers tries were shared by Nemani Nadolo (2), Jack van Poortvliet (2), Francois van Wyk, Julián Montoya and Kini Murimurivalu in the 247th East Midlands derby in a rivalry which dates back to the formation of each club more than 140 years ago.
“What I say to our players is that I want the supporters of Leicester Tigers to be proud of their team," Borthwick said.
"We won’t always win, but they have to be proud of the performance the team put in. That is exactly what I said before the game.
“I asked our players to jump right into the game and they did that. The commitment and effort were outstanding, the workrate was outstanding.
“Also, as we say every day to the players, we’ve got to find what we can get better at and work on it.
“Now I am concentrating on what we need to do to be better. The next challenge is Bath at home on Friday, I don’t think past that, and I want us to get better than we were today.”
Tickets for Tigers versus Bath are available at the Tigers ticket office now. Book online, in person at the ticket office or phone 0116 319 8888 (option 2). Kick-off is at 7.45pm on Friday.