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Proud boss

8/10/2008

PHILIPPE Saint-Andre expressed pride in his young team who were two points shy of victory in the opening match of the EDF Energy Cup against Cardiff.

Only four players in the starting line-up had previously started in a match this season, and the bulk of Saturday’s squad was made up from academy players.

Saint-Andre said: "I’m very proud of the players. Twelve players from our academy were on the pitch against a lot of quality players of Cardiff and we competed well.

"There was maybe a little bit of naivety at the end of the game when we had the opportunity to win.

"Cardiff came with the team they will probably start with in the Heineken Cup because they haven’t had a game since last Friday. We needed to rest players so it was an opportunity to see a lot of guys from our academy and I think a lot of them did very well."

What the side lacked in game time they made up for in passion and grit, although it wasn’t enough to keep Cardiff at bay.

Saint-Andre defended his decision to opt for youth over experience, preferring to protect his first-string squad ahead of their Heineken Cup opener on Saturday.

"When you have a quality squad but not a big squad you need to manage this.

"The EDF Energy Cup is important but we have the Guinness Premiership and Heineken Cup as well.

"We are in a Heineken Cup group with Munster, Clermont and Montauban - we need bodies for the next two weeks."

Saint-Andre criticised the timing of the EDF Energy Cup and believes a better option would be to start the Anglo Welsh tournament before the Premiership season begins.

"I don’t know why we didn’t start the competition in the last week of August," he said. "Everyone was struggling to find a friendly game. I think it would be better common sense than playing three games in nine days."