Wilson says Amlin success has lifted pressure off Saints

Wilson came off the bench in the closing stages at Cardiff Arms Park last Friday, as he and his team-mates celebrated a 30-16 victory against Bath.

It was Saints’ first piece of silverware since the LV= Cup triumph of 2010 and it ended a run of four successive final defeats.

Wilson believes that could be key going into this weekend’s clash with Saracens, who suffered a 23-6 Heineken Cup final loss to Toulon at the Millennium Stadium last Saturday.

“The win last Friday is going to push us on,” said the Kiwi utility back. “We’ve got that feeling of winning a final and that pressure’s going to be lifted off us a bit.

“Going into this week is awesome. It was a massive build-up last year (before Saints lost to Leicester in the Premiership final).

“We know what it’s like to be on the wrong side of it at the end and hopefully we can do the job and come away with the trophy.”

Wilson grew up in Invercargill watching big games at Twickenham, with his home nation, New Zealand, involved in some titanic tussles while touring England.

And the 30-year-old is now hoping to secure some happy memories of his own at English rugby HQ this weekend.

“Twickenham is one of the major rugby grounds in the world,” said Wilson. “We definitely want to do the job there. Last Friday was amazing, but this weekend could be the cream on the cake.

“You want to play on big stages and at the best grounds. There were massive games between the All Blacks and England.

“Whenever they toured over here it was wicked. It was awesome and it was definitely the big stage of rugby.

“You want to be on that stage growing up, you want to be part of it and this is an opportunity to do that.”