Northampton coach Dorian West has paid tribute to hat-trick hero Vasily Artemyev after his side's 36-6 victory over Saracens.
Saints coach praises three-try Russian import
Northampton coach Dorian West has paid tribute to hat-trick hero Vasily Artemyev after his side's 36-6 victory over Saracens on Saturday.
The Russian winger scored with his first touch of the ball in the LV= Cup opener, showing a true poachers instinct to stun the reigning Premiership champions at Franklin's Gardens.
"If you'd watched him at the World Cup he did a lot of good things there," said West. "We knew he was a good player, that's why we brought him here
"He's got genuine pace and a real enthusiasm to play the game and he's done very well today, but he was part of a group of players who were all playing well. He finished things nicely."
West was particularly impressed with his forwards, who were led by a front row all in their early twenties.
"We finished well but the lads got us into that position. Alex Waller, Tom Mercey and Mike Hayward worked really hard and asked a lot of questions of their pack."
Errors
The England World Cup winning prop also said his returning England internationals Tom Wood, Dylan Hartley and Courtney Lawes had all been keen to play despite their battered confidence.
"They were a bit low in confidence, like you would expect coming back from that, and they're a bit tired from travelling but they've showed a really good attitude and desire to play.
"They've come back here and they're hungry to play and we'll use them a much as we can."
Saracens forwards and defence coach Paul Gustard said that individual errors had been the key problem for his side.
He said: "You have to put things into context. Four of their tries stemmed from individual errors by us. Things like that happened after some great defence and one slip up can cost you against Northampton.
"They took their chances, and in the first half we had two clear-cut chances that we didn't take.
"Unfortunately, at the start of the second half we started well and we rolled over a little bit so that was disappointing. It was frustrating because at 14-6 at half-time we were in the game.
"Ben Spencer had a tremendous game at scrum-half. I think his is a name you'll be hearing a lot of in the future."
