Northampton took revenge for their Powergen Cup final humiliation by sweeping past London Irish in the Zurich Championship play-offs.

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Saints proved too strong for an Exiles side that was virtually a second-choice XV as coach Brendan Venter opted to rest his key men.

Northampton won the try-count 4-2, but with Barry Everitt absent for the hosts, it was the boot of Paul Grayson that made the big difference.

The stand-off kicked 18 points to set up a semi-final against Bristol.

But they got back into the game through two penalties from stand-off Paul Grayson and then built up a substantial lead through two tries from Nick Beal and another from Budge Pountney.

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Irish were hit by the sin-binning of prop Doug Wheatley and flanker James Cockle as Northampton went 25-7 clear.

But when Saints hooker Steve Thompson sat out 10 minutes soon after their return, the Exiles closed to within two scores as scrum-half Kevin Barrett collected his own chip to score.

However, Northampton were home and dry when referee Dave Pearson awarded a penalty try for a push on John Leslie as he was about to touch down Beal's kick ahead.

London Irish: Thrower; Ezulike, Hunt, Cannon, Drake; Brown, Barrett; Wheatley, Flavin, Halford, Delaney, Burke, Gustard, Pfister, Cockle.
Replacements: Martens, Appleford, Drotske, Halvey, Hardwick, Hatley, Williams.

Northampton: Shaw; Moir, Tucker, Leslie, Beal; Grayson, Dawson; Smith, Thompson, Morris, Phillips, Brouzet, Blowers, Pountney, Soden.
Replacements: Richmond, Stewart, Hunter, Seely, Malone, Brooks, Webster.

Referee: Dave Pearson (RFU)