Smith feels Saints players have a connection unlike any other
Fin Smith says Saints have a connection between their players unlike any other side in Europe.
And he feels that closeness came to the fore as they held on to beat Leinster 37-34 at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening.
The black, green and gold produced an incredible performance, capped by a massive defensive set to hold Leinster out in the closing seconds of a thrilling encounter.
Saints secured a turnover on their own line and went through the phases before Smith booted the ball out to send them to the May 24 Investec Champions Cup final, in which they will face Union Bordeaux Bègles in Cardiff.
Leinster had been the big favourites heading into the semi-final showdown in Dublin, but Smith insists he and his Saints team-mates always believed they could beat the Irish giants.
"In a weird kind of way, I don't know whether it will sink in and hit me in a few days but I don't feel that surprised by that happened," England fly-half Smith said.
"We have so much belief and we said all week that we could go and shock them, use what happened last year (when Saints lost 20-17 in the semi-final against Leinster at Croke Park), and we felt really composed out there.
"I think we're the closest group in the competition in terms of connection off the pitch and how much we care about each other.
"I want to fight for the people around me, I believe more so than any other team.
"So in a weird kind of way, I'm obviously delighted with the result but I believed that was going to happen from the start."
Leinster named a star-studded bench against Saints, bringing on the likes of Rabah Slimani and Jordie Barrett.
"I must admit, when their team-sheet came out and I saw that bench, I was a bit like 'wow, this is going to be one of those games where you feel great up to about 50 minutes and then you look over and think 'he's very good, he's very good'', but that's fine," Smith said.
"We've spoken and said we'd have to dig deep for the full 80 - and we did that."
Smith and Alex Mitchell once again teamed up to great effect for Saints.
And Smith said: "There's obviously still stuff we can get better at and clean up around our game, but me and Mitch have played together for a long time and I think I know most of what he's going to do a lot of the time, and I'd like to think he's the same with me.
"We did what we needed to do at the right times."
Tommy Freeman delivered a stunning hat-trick for Saints in Dublin.
"He's a freak, isn't he?" Smith said.
"He's 105kg, rapid, can pass off both hands over 30 metres and step better than anyone in the league."
Leinster threatened to break Saints hearts at the end of the match as the Irish side thought they'd scored in the corner.
But referee Pierre Brousset instead awarded a penalty to Leo Cullen's side, setting up one final charge, which Saints resisted.
"I was just thinking 'please, not like this'," Smith said.
"Of all the ways for us to lose the game, if they'd have given that last try it would have crushed my heart.
"If you give us another chance to defend our goal-line, I back us all day long to keep anyone out so it was pretty nervy in the last minute, but we got there in the end."
Saints revelled in the fact they were written off by so many people before the game against Leinster.
And Smith said: "We sat and laughed all week because we saw people saying Leinster by 25, Leinster by 30, Leinster by 40, and we ended up winning the game.
"In terms of an upset, I'd say it's a pretty good one."