Chris Boyd wants improved performance from Northampton

Northampton Saints director of rugby Chris Boyd urges his side to improve further following a 27-41 defeat to Harlequins in the 11th round of the Gallagher Premiership at Twickenham on Monday.

Even though the two teams were evenly matched at the end of the opening half with the Quins having a slender 26-24 lead, the Saints could not maintain their momentum into the second half in which their only points came from the boot of Dan Biggar in the 45th minute.

With Alex Dombrandt completing his hat-trick and Cadan Murley scoring two tries, Harlequins emerged victorious as they overcame a double from Juarno Augustus to register a 14-point victory that saw them climb to the third place in the table.

Meanwhile, this was fourth defeat for the Saints in 10 games as they are at fifth position and Boyd highlighted the danger of losing close games with the battle for the top four positions set to heat up in the second leg of the competition.

“We’re certainly not happy being fifth at the end of the year,” he told the Saints' official website.

“We continue our journey.

“We need to be smart, stop being the victim, and get on with rolling our sleeves up and being a little better than that.

“The difference between the team that finishes fourth and the team that finishes eighth or ninth is going to be pretty tight. We just need to accumulate some wins to keep ourselves in the right position.”