'Big moments and small margins' - Boyd reflects on Saints' defeat to Exeter

The black, green and gold surrendered a 28-17 lead during the second half, with Joe Simmonds' penalty ultimately winning the game for the Chiefs.

The bonus-point success lifted Rob Baxter's men up to fourth, eight points ahead of ninth-placed Saints.

And Boyd said: "It was a game of big moments and small margins. At the end of the day, we just couldn't quite get over the top of it.

"We'll have to go back and reflect on it. I thought we did pretty well to get back into the game with a long-range penalty.

"We had some good field position but then surrendered it.

"They forced an error and kicked the goal so it was small margins and big moments."

When asked what more Saints need to do to end what is now a three-game losing streak, Boyd said: "It's the combination of attack and defence.

"I listened to one of the Super Rugby coaches the other day saying they needed about 35 points to win.

"That's not the case in the northern hemisphere - the defences are good, the territorial battle is good and the attack has to be better.

"Yes, we can score tries generally and that's why we're near the top of the pile for try-scoring but we've either got to score more or concede less because we're not winning enough games."

Boyd handed a start to James Grayson for the first time since November, and the fly-half largely enjoyed a good game against Exeter.

When asked to evaluate Grayson's display, Boyd said: "He was down and out with 10 minutes to go and we'd run out of replacements with a 6:2 split on the bench.

"But he had a good game."