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France-bound Courtney Laws says his Northampton side deserve to be crowned champions of England but admits they took advantage of their luck against 14-man Bath before won their first Premiership title for a decade.
Lowes, who celebrated his final appearance for his hometown club by appearing bare-chested and wearing ski goggles at the post-match press conference, admitted the Saints’ performance left much to be desired as he lifted the trophy alongside his team-mate Louis Ludlam. “I’m actually still mad about the game,” Laws said, speaking to TNT Sports. “I don’t think we could have played any worse.
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“Honestly, I couldn’t believe we actually won it because we tried so hard to lose it. By the end of the game, I was actually pretty angry. Sometimes it doesn’t look good – and it certainly didn’t today – but we won and that’s what matters. I am over the moon and couldn’t ask for more.
“Bath were a great team today and really put us under a lot of pressure [but] I think we deserved it all season. It was really special to see these boys grow up. There are many things I will never do at Saints again, but I owe so much to the club. I’m just very happy that I was able to give what the club deserves.”
Lawes, who also confirmed afterwards that he would like to be considered for next year’s British & Irish Lions tour to Australia despite his impending move to Brive, suggested that Bath’s Benno Obano’s first-half dismissal had somehow made life more difficult for him Northampton because Bath had no choice but to raise their game. “I’ve been on both sides,” Laws said. “Sometimes when you get a red card, it actually excites you a bit. You have nothing to lose and no pressure on you. All of a sudden all the pressure shifts to the side with 15 and we really felt it today. We weren’t firing on all cylinders and we didn’t transfer our game to the field. But we did enough to win and that’s what matters.”
Disappointed Bath coach Johan van Graan called Obano’s red card “part of the game” but suggested the margins associated with the current high tackle framework were almost impossibly narrow. “I don’t believe it was foul play, I believe it was a clash between two extremely strong rugby players,” he said. “[But] at the end of the day, that was the judge’s decision, and we’ll stick with it. I’m not going to get into the whole red card debate, it’s a shame.”
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