'He's a trooper' - Boyd salutes centurion Ribbans after Saints see off Wasps

Ribbans was making his 100th Northampton appearance, and he was named man of the match following a bonus-point success for the black, green and gold.

Tries from Alex Mitchell, James Grayson, Alex Waller and Courtnall Skosan got the job done, ending Saints' four-match losing streak.

And boss Boyd said: "David Ribbans has played really well for us consistently in the past two or three years and he was our player of the year last season.

"His form has continued this year, and he's a trooper.

"In terms of the game, it was a different day, a few critical moments and we managed to build ourselves a lead and hold out.

"It was really important to win but I don't think we were any better or worse than in the past month.

"We just won a couple of critical moments and finally got five points.

"I don't know how critical it will be in the end, but it would have been nice for Jimmy (Grayson) to have got one of those penalties at the end and deny them a bonus point, but he had a much better game today and I was very pleased for him.

"It's very hard when guys come in and haven't played for a while. We made four changes in the past five minutes and there were some mistakes that let them have that last try.

"If you get on a roll you can play well, but if you have a long wait sometimes the pace of the game gets away from you a bit."

Boyd was able to enjoy his side's success, despite the fact Wasps refused to go quietly.

"I said to Phil Dowson at half-time that if you were a neutral here and you weren't emotionally connected to it, it actually wasn't a bad first half from an entertainment point of view, and the second half continued that.

"It was a great crowd here at the Gardens and it's fantastic playing here when it's full.

"It was a reasonable day's entertainment."