Northampton boss Jim Mallinder branded Chris Ashton "remarkable" after Saints knocked Leicester off the Guinness Premiership top spot.
Saints boss full of praise for triumphant winger
Northampton boss Jim Mallinder branded hat-trick hero Chris Ashton "remarkable" after Saints knocked Leicester off the Guinness Premiership top spot.
Ashton posted three tries as Northampton secured a 38-23 bonus-point win over Gloucester to go top of the league, and Mallinder heaped praise on the prolific winger.
"Chris knows when and where to turn up and he also makes the breaks," said Mallinder.
"His first try was unbelievable. That is his second try hat-trick in the league this season. Chris knows where to find the weak points in defences.
"He is strong, fast, and getting better all the time. His try-scoring record of 22 in 29 games is remarkable."
Tough
Mallinder acknowledged that Saints now have a tough week ahead, with two games in five days against teams with everything left to play for.
"We go to Bath on Tuesday night, then face Saracens at home next Saturday, and we have to be smart in terms of selection because of the Elite Player Squad regulations that allow you to play a guy for no more than 160 minutes over three games," he said.
"We picked a team to win this game and I'm very pleased with the way we went about our business. We've come away with a bonus point and we earned our win against a good footballing side.
"I've been asked why we kicked penalties late on instead of going for the fourth try, but my attitude is you must win your game first and worry about bonus points later.
"We bounced back from a disappointing defeat in Munster, but after one day off the boys got down to business and now we can focus all our attentions on one competition.
"Our target is to earn a home semi-final in the play-offs, and then perhaps a place in the play-off final at Twickenham."
Gloucester head coach Bryan Redpath, meanwhile, voiced his frustration with referee Dave Pearson's interpretations at the breakdown.
Gutted
"One minute you're not allowed to do anything in the contact area, such as was the case at Wasps last week, then you come here and it's completely different," said Redpath.
"You need to take the rough with the smooth in this business, but I can't help feeling there's been a lot of rough for me this season. We worked so hard all week and the boys in the dressing room are gutted.
"But as you develop, so you learn. We played some very good football and we created some good opportunities. I think the difference was Northampton took theirs better than we did."
