Bryan Redpath says Gloucester's eighth straight win at Northampton was a huge statement of their ambitions for the season.
Gloucester keep on winning as Saints keep on losing streak
Bryan Redpath is delighted with Gloucester's continued progress, adding that winning their eighth straight game at Northampton on Saturday was a huge statement of their ambitions for the season.
A narrow 18-16 win at Franklin's Gardens was Gloucester's fourth straight in the league, and maintains their charge towards the play-offs.
Cherry and Whites boss Redpath was delighted with yet another win, while acknowledging that Northampton are a struggling side after they suffered a fifth loss in a row.
Despite the opposition's problems, Redpath is adamant that the win sends out a huge message that Gloucester mean business.
"It's a massive statement of intent, but I'm aware of where we are and aware of where they are too," said Redpath. "We're doing the basics well, not getting too panicky, worrying, or getting over excited and carried away.
Conditions
"I thought we handled the conditions very well in the first half, Nicky kicked well and we took two opportunities that came our way.
"Sometimes you tend to panic and kick the ball away in wind like that, worrying too much about territory, but I thought we balanced that well in the first half."
Jonny May - a 20-year-old winger - was the star for Gloucester as he bagged two tries, while young scrum-halves Jordi Pasqualin and Dan Robson also showed that the club's future looks bright.
May was making just his second Premiership start of the season and Redpath had no fears the academy graduate would pass the test with flying colours.
"Anyone who watches A team rugby can see that he can finish with the best of them, but I'm delighted for Jonny, he's young and he's raw, and with James Simpson-Daniel, Leslie Vainikolo and Charlie Sharples out, it was a great opportunity for him," Redpath added.
"It was a good learning curve for him, and he should enjoy his performance.
"They've lost a little bit of their sting, but we had to make sure we kept our composure and discipline."
Saints slump
Jim Mallinder's Saints look in big trouble as they continue their fall from grace following a brilliant start to the season that saw them power to the top of the table.
After losing five in a row for the first time in five seasons, Northampton are in grave danger of slipping out of the play-off reckoning altogether if they cannot somehow find their confidence again.
Mallinder, though, is confident his men can dig in and stop their slide and make an impact on the Aviva Premiership play-offs.
"We are still confident and hopeful of making the top four," Mallinder insisted. "We've got to be tighter in defence and sharper in attack, we've lost a bit of confidence.
"We were playing well through the autumn internationals, so we cannot use the Six Nations as an excuse.
"I had hoped we would continue the composure we showed at the start of the second half, but we gave away weak, stupid penalties and that stung us."
