MATCH DETAILS Saracens: (10) 18 Tries: Little, Kydd Cons: Little Pens: Little (2) Northampton: (8) 22 Tries Hyndman, Drahm, Reihana Cons: Drahm (2) Pens: Drahm

Saints raced into a comfortable lead thanks to tries by Chris Hyndman, Shane Drahm and Bruce Reihana.

But a late Sarries rally produced a try apiece for Nicky Little and Robbie Kydd to set up a close finish.

With Saints scrum-half Mark Robinson in the sin bin, it took a last-gasp tackle from Oriol Ripol to deny Paul Bailey a winning try for the hosts.

Saints coach Wayne Smith admitted he was unsure how his side had won.

"We've seldom played that poorly and come away with the points," he said.

"Normally if we played like that we'd expect to lose - Saracens played well and we were lucky to get away with it, but we won and that's the main thing.

"Next week is a season-defining game against Sale - if we go well, that sets us up for the season - if we don't win that one, then we're back in the pack."

Sarries coach Rod Kafer is hopeful the arrival of assistant coach Steve Diamond from Sale will add some impetus to a Saracens side that lost yet again at home.

"We've got a person coming in from outside who can give us a bit of a reality check," Kafer said.

"We hope he can tweak a few things, look at the pack, and move us forward.

"There's a lot of potential in this side but it's potential that could get me the sack - we need to take that leap up to become a good side."