ALEX Rae was ‘proud’ of his side’s fight and commitment after Coventry Rugby pushed Northampton Saints all the way in a narrow Premiership Rugby Cup defeat.
Cov tasted defeat for the first time this season after losing 19-10 against the Premiership champions in front of a record crowd of 5,202 spectators at Butts Park Arena.
Rae praised his side’s determined attitude throughout the contest and felt Saints paid Coventry a huge compliment by selecting a strong team for the fixture.
Rae said: “I was just so proud our effort and commitment. I thought the players were magnificent and they fought for every inch. It wasn’t just one man, it was 23 men, who were prepared to really put their bodies on the line.
“The fight was there right to the last minute. You can talk about lots of other things, but if teams haven’t got that commitment to the fight then they’re in trouble, but we had an abundance of it.
“Northampton paid us a massive compliment with the team they selected – they sent a really strong line-up that wouldn’t have looked out of place in the Premiership.
“We had an opportunity in the first half to build a bit of a lead but we missed some really key chances and against good teams you don’t get away with it.”
Tries either side of half time from Matt Kvesic and Ryan Hutler briefly put Coventry ahead after George Hendy scored the game’s first try for Saints.
However, quickfire tries from Chunya Munga and Curtis Langdon ensured Saints inflicted a first defeat on Coventry this season.
Rae believes his side’s performance against Saints proves they can compete with anyone on their day.
Rae added: “Northampton were clinical, they took their chances and we didn’t take ours. It’s a pretty simple game. If you take your chances you’ll be ahead.
“Our defence created so many opportunities for us but we just didn’t convert them into points.
“That’s something we’ve been really good at in these first weeks of the season, but obviously we’re against better opposition and it’s a good learning for us.
“We can compete with anyone, we’ve got a team who are more than able to beat any team on its day and we saw that.
“The players had no fear, they were confident in the changing room beforehand that they could turn Northampton over, especially in front of a brilliant home crowd.
“It is a result of the players’ hard work and what they do on the pitch that over 5,000 people want to come and watch.
“People are now not expecting Coventry to lose these games against big teams, instead there’s a feeling that we can win them.”
Coventry resume their league campaign against Ampthill on Saturday, November 30 with kick-off at 2pm at Dillingham Park.
