Opposition view: 'Stressful but exciting' as Harlequins celebrate success against Saints

In a roller-coaster encounter, Quins eventually prevailed, scoring six tries on the day as they boosted their Gallagher Premiership play-off hopes.

For Saints, it was an afternoon to forget as some key decisions didn't go their way and they struggled with their efficiency in both 22s, finding it hard to capitalise when Quins were reduced to 14 men on three separate occasions.

And Wilson said: "It was stressful, but exciting and enjoyable, and it's what this group of players are about. It's their DNA, it's the club's DNA, it's what it's been built on and long may it continue.

"We're going to come out and entertain and we know that in this competition and others that bonus points are important. We've got to score four tries week in, week out, and that's exactly what we're trying to do.

"It's so tight it's mad. Every game feels like knockout rugby so you've got to go and score four tries and get bonus points to give yourselves a chance.

"We've done what we needed to do in front of a big crowd here, which is an amazing experience, and now we've got a semi-final in Europe.

"We said at half-time we should be further ahead on the scoreboard if it wasn't for the yellow cards, which is what gave them a foot up in the game.

"They were all one-off yellow cards that we shouldn't be giving away.

"We had some really good defensive sets in our own 22, our collisions were way better than what they've been. We probably got a bit soft a couple of times on edges and if you give Northampton an edge, they're going to score from that.

"What I'm learning about this club is that you probably have to score six or seven tries to win a game of rugby."