Mallinder: Louis was just terrific

NORTHAMPTON boss Jim Mallinder acknowledged it wasn’t the best of games but hailed his team’s resilience for coming back for victory and resevrved special mention for No.8 Louis Picamoles.

Mallinder said: “It wasn’t pretty but sometimes you need motivation from all different directions and we did that today.

“We had our top three lineout forwards out and it was always going to be difficult against such a big pack but our set-piece was phenomenal.

“It was a tight game and I think the rain when it came suited them, but we stuck in there and I’m delighted with the win.

“Louis Picamoles was terrific, he’s done a couple of shifts like that for us already this season. He doesn’t always look that quick but he can really move.

“The win has given us a bit of belief for next week in Castres. We know the ground and the club well, it’s very familiar to us and we have won there before. We could have some players available again as well – Dylan Hartley, Courtney Lawes, Christian Day.

Montpellier centre Frans Steyn said: “It’s a good learning curve for us, we can build on this and go forward.

“The margins are so small – like me missing a penalty and us not kicking out when we should have done. A bonus point on the road might be useful, this is a difficult pool.”