France-bound Courtney Lawes says his Northampton side deserved to win the English title but admitted they only won their first Premier League title in a decade after beating a 14-man Bath side champion.
Lawes, who was shirtless and wearing ski goggles in his post-match press conference to celebrate his final appearance for his hometown club, admitted that Saints’ performance was not good enough after lifting the trophy with team-mate Lewis Ludlam. Leaves a lot to be desired. “The truth is, I’m still angry about the game,” Routh told TNT Sports. “I don’t think we could have played worse.
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“To be honest, I can’t believe we actually won the championship because we tried so hard to lose it. I was actually quite angry after the game. It didn’t look pretty at times – certainly not today – but we won , that’s what matters. I’m ecstatic and couldn’t ask for more.
“Bath were a great team today, they really put us under a lot of pressure [but] I think we deserved it all season. It’s really special to see these guys grow up. There are a lot of things I would never do again at Saints but I owe the club so much. I’m really happy to achieve the goals the club deserves.
Lawes later also confirmed that despite his imminent move to Brave, he hopes to be considered for next year’s British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, saying Bath’s Benoit Obanor was dismissed in the first half In a way making life more difficult for Northampton as Bath have no choice but to improve their game. “I’ve been on both ends of the spectrum,” Rouse said. “Sometimes when you get a red card you actually get a bit of a kick. You have nothing to lose and there’s no pressure. Suddenly all the pressure is on No. 15 and today we did Feeling that. We didn’t go all out and take the game to the court, but we did enough to win, and that’s all that matters.
Bath’s disappointed coach Johann van Graan called Obanor’s red card “part of the game” but said the margins involved were almost impossible under the current high-tackle framework. “I don’t think it was a foul, I believe it was a collision between two very strong rugby players,” he said. “[But] Ultimately it was the referee’s decision and we will stand by that. I’m not going to get into the whole red card debate, that’s unfortunate.
