Monday Round-Up
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Monday Round-Up
Hartley pleased with performance
Dylan Hartley was satisfied with England's performance and also acknowledged the slow first half.
"We were slow to get to the ruck, a few side entries, holding onto the ball – a few things we needed to tidy up," said Hartley.
"We let Italy into the game and we seemed surprised when they were competing for the ball.
"In the second half we came out and we put the onus on ourselves to compete at the ruck a bit harder, get our foot on the ball, mix things up at the breakdown and I think we got some good return there."
Hartley admitted they could have done better in the first half, but said the team were happy with the win.
"The first half was frustrating but overall it was a very satisfying win for us," he added.
"It's never easy coming out here and I thought the bench was impressive coming on for the last 20 minutes.
"We weren't 100 percent and we've got high standards so we've got stuff to work on.
"I think breakdown-wise in the first half we were a bit off the money."
Change of attitude at Franlin Gardens
Northampton captain Lee Dickson says Saints' change in attitude has proved the catalyst for a turnaround in form.
Saints have had some mixed results this year, but 2 wins on the bounce have got them on the right track.
They now sit 2 points of 4th place in the Aviva Premiership
"We've had a chat about what we want to be as a team," said scrum-half Dickson.
"The last two weeks we've gone out and played a bit more rather than winning a game by kicking, going out with a remit of trying to run, back our fitness and get the balls into the winger's hands."
Before their successive victories, Saints were comfortably beaten by Wasps at Franklin's Gardens after a first-half performance director of rugby Jim Mallinder labelled as "unacceptable".
"That Wasps game was an awful game," Dickson, 30, told BBC Radio Northampton. "On that Monday morning when we came in we needed a change of attitude.
"I think we made sure everyone bought into the style we wanted to play. We've got some great rugby players across the park and we just weren't using them.
"We made sure we wanted to get the ball into the winger's hands and kick from there, rather than always kicking from nine and 10."
