Scintillating Saints set up home quarter-final by beating Clermont Auvergne

The black, green and gold were back to their brilliant best as they scored seven tries, playing at a pace the French giants simply couldn't live with at times.

Clermont were hit by four injuries and two sin-binnings as they were stretched to breaking point by the speed of Northampton play.

Saints had gone 10-0 down early on, but there would be no repeat of the home humbling against Leicester Tigers two weeks earlier.

Instead, Phil Dowson's men rebuilt quickly and lifted the tempo through the cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens roof.

Clermont couldn't cope and they were 27-10 down by the break as Saints helped to increase the decibel levels at the Gardens minute by minute.

Tommy Freeman completed his hat-trick during the second half as his timely try killed off any thoughts of a Clermont comeback.

Saints continued to push on and they came close to a half-century as Clermont were well and truly put to the sword.

It was just a second win in seven meetings with the men from Stade Marcel-Michelin as Saints moved into the Champions Cup last eight for the second season in succession.

They will now host the winners of Saturday’s tie between Castres and Benetton at the Gardens next weekend.

Saints had gone into the Clermont clash bidding to bounce back from back-to-back Gallagher Premiership defeats.

But it looked like they had got off to a nightmare start when Clermont were celebrating inside two minutes.

Sebastien Bezy's kick ahead caused havoc and the away side picked up the loose ball and looked to have scored.

However, Saints had actually grounded it first, meaning it was no try, but Clermont still had a five-metre scrum to sink their sizeable teeth into.

Clermont went on to win a penalty, which they opted to kick, allowing Anthony Belleau to notch an easy three points from in front of the posts.

Saints tried to respond as Fin Smith slid through a grubber kick, but it was easy for Alivereti Raka to gather and ground it in his in-goal area.

Clermont were soon back on the front foot, producing a period of relentless pressure inside the Saints 22.

The hosts did well to hold out for so long, but eventually centre George Moala, who had been down injured seconds earlier, found a way through under the posts.

Belleau converted and Saints had to deal with a 10-point deficit inside the opening 12 minutes of the match.

Smith slotted a penalty to reduce the gap to seven points and Saints were frantically trying to lift the tempo at every turn.

Clermont were being stretched and Saints finally pushed them too far as Smith flew over to score on the left.

The fly-half also added the extras superbly from the touchline as the noise levels continued to rise at a raucous Gardens.

Clermont had a chance to silence the crowd as Belleau lined up a penalty won from a maul, but the fly-half failed with his effort.

The French side seemed certain to score soon after as wing Bautista Delguy went flying away, but Alex Mitchell made an incredible tap tackle and Saints managed to resist.

James Ramm cleared the ball and after Clermont tried to play inside their own half, Henry Pollock won a breakdown penalty, taking it quickly as Saints moved the ball in rapid fashion to Tommy Freeman, who scored out wide.

Smith couldn't convert but Saints led for the first time in the game and they were hungry for more, moving the ball at serious speed.

After Clermont overthrew a lineout, Curtis Langdon pouched it and started a move that finished with Fraser Dingwall flinging a fantastic pass out to Freeman, who scored on the right.

Smith almost ran out of time to take the conversion, meaning he went for an attempt from hand rather than tee, but he sent his effort wide.

The black, green and gold waves continued to increase as the half went on, and Saints thought they'd scored again when Mitchell went over, but the effort was ruled out for a knock-on in the build-up.

Clermont were being hit by injury after injury, losing three players in the first half, including both loosehead options, meaning tighthead Michael Ala'alatoa had to come off the bench to play on the left of the scrum.

The sin bin was almost as well populated as the medical room as Clermont lost Thomas Ceyte and Bezy for persistent offsides.

Saints were landing blow after blow and with the clock in the red, they found time to strike at the heart of the 13-man opposition.

Josh Kemeny did brilliantly to gather a lineout high in the air before Juarno Augustus picked up and flew to the line for a huge try.

Smith converted with the final kick of a thrilling half as Saints moved into a 27-10 lead.

And the black, green and gold continued to look razor sharp early in the second period as George Hendy cut Clermont apart with a superb step and break from inside his own half before offloading to Augustus, who cruised over on the left.

Smith converted superbly, but Clermont finally found a response as Raka used his power to brush off James Ramm and dart over the line.

The successful conversion meant the Clermont deficit was again back to 17 points with half an hour still to play.

Ben Urdapilleta hammered a penalty to the corner after Saints gave away a cheap offside from a clearance kick and that allowed the away pack to power over from the lineout drive, with Folau Fainga'a the scorer.

Belleau converted again and Saints were now the ones struggling to get a foothold in the game as Clermont sensed the opportunity to get the Gardens nerves jangling.

But Freeman popped up with a timely score to settle things down, beating his man and racing over on the right after Saints worked the ball really well.

Smith missed the conversion, but Saints were soon threatening again, playing at lightning speed as they tried to offload their way through the French side.

Clermont suffered yet another injury blow with 15 minutes to go as influential No.8 Fritz Lee was stretchered off after a lengthy spell of treatment.

With only scrum-half Jules Bousquet left to come on, the away side had more issues to deal with, while Saints sent on Tom James to give Mitchell a deserved breather.

The home side kept pushing on and some fine combination play between Dingwall and Smith resulted in the latter sliding a kick through for Pollock to score.

The Saints No.7 booted the ball in the air in delight before Smith converted to make it 46-24.

And that was how it finished as Saints kept their dreams of European glory alive.

Saints: 15. James Ramm (Rory Hutchinson 73); 14. Tommy Freeman, 13. Burger Odendaal, 12. Fraser Dingwall (c), 11. George Hendy; 10. Fin Smith, 9. Alex Mitchell (Tom James 67); 1. Emmanuel Iyogun (Tom West 66), 2. Curtis Langdon (Henry Walker 66), 3. Trevor Davison (Luke Green 66); 4. Temo Mayanavanua (Tom Lockett 62), 5. Alex Coles; 6. Josh Kemeny (Angus Scott-Young 58), 7. Henry Pollock, 8. Juarno Augustus (Tom Pearson 73).

Clermont Auvergne: 15. Alex Newsome; 14. Bautista Delguy (Ben Urdapilleta 26), 13. Irae Simone, 12. George Moala (Pierre Fouyssac 49), 11. Alivereti Raka; 10. Anthony Belleau, 9. Sebastien Bezy; 1. Giorgi Akhaladze (Etienne Falgoux 26 (Michael Ala'alatoa 36)), 2. Barnabe Massa (Folau Fainga'a 49), 3. Cristian Ojovan; 4. Rob Simmons, 5. Thomas Ceyte (Anthime Hemery 49); 6. Pita-Gus Sowakula (Alexandre Fischer 55), 7. Killian Tixeront, 8. Fritz Lee (c) (Jules Bousquet 67).

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)