Oriol Ripol scored Saints' third try Final day photos

Northampton 28-6 Leeds

Northampton took full advantage of Sale's defeat at Saracens to clinch third place in the Zurich Premiership with victory over Leeds.

Saints secured four points from a hard-fought encounter at Franklin's Gardens, and moved above the Manchester club having secured more league victories.

The result means Northampton will now face Wasps in the Premiership play-off semi-final.

It also sends Leeds into the Premiership wildcard play-offs where they will battle for a berth in the Heineken Cup next term.

A top-three finish is where we wanted to be all year - we set it as a target Northampton coach Wayne Smith

The Tykes were edged out 8-6 in a tight first half as Peter Jorgensen's try and a Paul Grayson penalty put Saints in the driving seat, with Leeds mustering two penalties from Braam van Straaten.

The third quarter was also closely contested and it was only in the final 10 minutes that Leeds fell away, allowing Steve Thompson and Oriol Ripol in for two soft tries to give the final score its one-sided appearance.

After a scrappy opening, van Straaten kicked Leeds ahead, and the Tykes held the upper hand with Samoan winger George Harder making ground every time he touched the ball.

Van Straaten was off-form, but slotted another kick over, before Saints fly-half Grayson took the opportunity to land an inch-perfect drop-goal.

Then Ben Cohen was involved as Northampton landed the first try of the game, turning Harder inside-out before feeding Nick Beal, who sent Jorgensen over.

Dawson failed to add the extras and was forced off the pitch with what appeared to be a hip injury shortly after the interval.

New Zealand sevens ace Bruce Reihana landed a simple three points to put Saints clear, and the Tykes were dealt a further blow when their combative hooker Mark Regan was sin-binned.

But Saints struggled to break clear.

Reihana managed another penalty in the 66th minute to nudge his side into a 14-6 lead and then Northampton touched down for their second try through England hooker Thompson.

There was still time for Saints to cross once again when Grayson's crossfield kick fell kindly for substitute Ripol who scampered in, with Jorgensen booting the conversion.