The victory for Tigers saw them leapfrog Saints, Sarries and Irish to the top of the table but leaves the latter three team with a game in hand over the league leaders. Perhaps more importantly a healthy gap of eight points was now built up between Irish in fourth, and the last playoff spot, and Wasps in fifth. Although you can never discount Wasps, or maybe even a couple of others making a move from the chasing pack with a good run of form, that gap at present looks a tough hill to climb. Of course you may have to factor in just how long Sarries current ‘blip' continues or indeed if either we, Tigers or Irish suffer the same fate but

looking at the current table as it stands it looks like a four horse race with each team jockeying for position for playoff home advantage at season end. With just four points separating the top four those positions will change week on week and it looks like going down to the wire. Sure still a long way to go but from a Saints supporters view it is good to see us in the shake up going forward. It's in our hands.

HEINEKEN CUP

Thoughts of domestic glory go on the back burner for the next couple of weeks as all eyes turn to the main event, the Heineken Cup. With two games remaining the Saints are still well in the hunt for a quarter final place. Currently sitting in second place in Pool 1 behind Munster it is still all to play for. The Irish by dint of their three bonus points to Saints one hold the whip hand at the moment but this weekends round of matches will be crucial in shaping what Saints have to go to do in Limerick a week on Friday.

The biggest factor might just be how seriously the other two teams in the group, Perpignan and Treviso, take these last two games. Perpignan, who come to the Gardens on Sunday, look to be all but out of the competition already but may still believe they have an outside chance of pipping Saints for the runners up spot. At the very least that secures an away tie in the Amlin Cup quarter finals but then again you do have to go back to how seriously French teams take that competition and whether USAP might just be more concerned about concentrating on defending their Top 14 crown. Certainly in the French league they are coming back into a rich vein of form. Last weekend they handed out a crushing defeat to Racing Metro of Paris a team who had been on a good run themselves and the Perpignan forwards certainly look to have the bit between their teeth at present.

The question is, will they bring that form to Northampton this weekend? That is of course the $64,000 question but I think our boys will be thinking they have a point or two to prove against the Catalan side themselves that may give us the edge. Certainly in the away tie back in October we did not get the rub of the green and there may be a feeling amongst the squad that there are a few wrongs to be righted. A fired up team with all of us behind them should see us home but that crucial bonus point might well be dependent on the frame of mind Perpignan turns up in.

While we entertain USAP Munster travel to northern Italy to take on Treviso. Under normal circumstances you would have this down as a cast iron five point win for the away team but Treviso have shown so far in this years competition that they are a very tough nut to crack. On their travels they have given both us and Munster a run for the money but it is at home that have caused real problems for the bigger clubs. We struggled out there and were grateful to come away with a narrow victory whilst Perpignan were not so lucky at the Stade Mongio losing a game that ultimately (and hopefully) might have sealed their exit from the Heineken before it even started.

Will Munster fare any better out there? Well maybe a touch of wishful thinking on my part but I think Treviso might well be capable of doing us a favour even if at the end of the day that is limiting the Irish side to four points . I think the Italians view these games as their own mini cup finals, testing themselves against the best and to a certain extent they revel in being the underdog upsetting the applecart. And what bigger scalp to take than a side that has won the shebang on a couple of occasions, now that would really put Treviso as a club on the map. A tall order perhaps but for over an hour at Thomond Park they gave as good as they got and on their own patch, well who knows.

WEATHER

The weather looks all set fair for the game out in Italy and the snow ploughs and diggers will not be needed this week. Whether the snow was an advantage to Treviso on Saints visit is questionable but back here in blighty we have yet again seen more of the same this week. As it sit here writing this it is snowing outside again for the umpteenth time since Xmas but a thaw is predicted by the weekend and the game should go ahead no problem. There were some questions raised this week that if we could hold onto the freeze a touch longer it may well have been to our advantage come Sunday. The truth is it may have been the opposite. Despite enjoying glorious sunshine through the summer Perpignan, sitting at the foot of the Pyrenees has more than its fair share of winter too. I do not know the exact numbers but I would put good money on the city getting much more snow than we ever see in a regular winter.

A couple of years back the Stade Aime Giral was under several feet of snow prior to a big game. Not wishing to miss out a bulldozer was hired to clear the pitch. The snow was cleared but then so was most of the top layer of soil underneath but the game still took place in an absolute quagmire. At the end of the game a mudfight took place between the players, it has to be said it was more lively than the eighty minutes that went before.

Now of course Piggy Powell would not allow a bulldozer within a mile of the Gardens pitch mid season but I'm hoping a home bulldozer pack fighting fire with fire, and touch of Italian luck elsewhere, this weekend sets us up with a mouth watering trip to Ireland five days later. Here's hoping!