Saints flanker Kemeny looking forward to another special Gardens atmosphere

Saints have sold out both of their home games during the festive period as they host Sale Sharks this weekend before entertaining Harlequins on January 3.

They will have a big game at Bath in between those matches, and the intensity of each of the Gallagher PREM encounters should be through the roof.

Saints had enjoyed an unbeaten start to their league campaign before suffering a sobering defeat at Bristol Bears last time out.

And they will now bid to get their PREM season back on track against a Sale side who will be buoyed by an impressive Investec Champions Cup win at Clermont Auvergne last Saturday.

"We know Sale will come hard at us physically and at our breakdown so there's that element of improving our side of that," Australian flanker Kemeny said.

"We need to be as consistent as we can be with our execution, whether that's at set piece or around the park.

"First of all, this is a home fixture, which is always really easy to get up for, and this time of year there's always a good buzz around the place and within the team on game day.

"It was my first experience of the festive fixture last year and the atmosphere was special so I'm looking forward to it.

"Sale are obviously a team with a lot of grunt, a lot of power and a lot of really fast players.

"They're a team that needs to be respected so we've got to come out and put in a really good performance.

"They've got a lot of strengths to their game and they put that out there last weekend so they'll be ready to repeat that this week.

"Regardless of where we sit in the table, it's about holding ourselves to the highest standards possible, whether that's home, away and whoever the team we're facing is.

"It's a challenge, but it's one we're up for."

Kemeny finished the job for Saints last Sunday, scoring a late try in a 50-5 Champions Cup win against Vodacom Bulls.

"Seeing this place full and excited and being able to get a scoreline we were happy with, it was a good Sunday,” Kemeny said.

"It was a bit of a walk-in try for me at the end and I can only give credit to the other boys, but it was very nice. The boys got the turnover and then it was front row hands through the line so it was good to see.

"The two wins put us in a really good position and it gives us a lot of confidence going into the rest of the European comp, but realistically there are parts of our game that we need to improve, and that's what we're going to be focused on so we can get the absolute best performances we can.”