Opposition view: Kidney won't blame 'top player' Tuisue for London Irish's loss at Saints

London Irish boss Declan Kidney was in no mood to blame Albert Tuisue for his side's 23-21 defeat at Saints on Saturday.
Albert TuisueAlbert Tuisue
Albert Tuisue

Tuisue's moment of madness, during which he put his head into the face of Alex Waller, resulted in a penalty that Dan Biggar kicked to win the game for Saints.

Irish had put themselves in a position to take the four points as they came back from 17-0 and 20-14 down to lead 21-20 with six minutes to go.

But Tuisue handed the hosts a shot at goal, and Biggar made no mistake to grab a narrow success for his side.

"Albert (Tuisue) is a top player and nobody likes giving away a penalty," said Kidney, when asked about Tuisue's actions.

Kidney, who had seen his side come back from 17 points down to draw with Sale Sharks on the previous weekend, added: "Maybe we should start at 17-0 down every week.

"It's something we'll have to look at, that start.

"We gave them opportunities and they took their chances.

"We gave away too many penalties and it's going to be difficult for you if you do that.

"We had a few kicks to the corner and it was a day like that.

"It was hard to play off them and sometimes on days like today you're better off without the ball.

"Northampton are a resilient side and we gave them a 17-point lead, so it's always going to be difficult to come back from that.

"But we did come back, as we did last week to get a draw, but there were just fine margins at the end of this game."

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