However, I thought we had all but blown it in the opening 10 minutes.

With qualification looking a tall order anyway, Llanelli caught us cold and scored two quick tries in the opening few minutes from Stoddart and King and we all but looked out of the hunt from that moment.

I even turned to a friend in C block and commented 'well that's that then'.

But it was a case of me of little faith as the lads regrouped and then, courtesy of two Chris Ashton tries and a certain try-saving tackle from Stephen Myler, draw level as the teams went in at halftime at 13-13.

The tempo was raised by both sides in the second half, and the Scarlets came back into it for a time.

But, slowly but surely, Saints gained the upper hand and ground out not only the win but the four-try bonus point, with further scores from Bruce, Bruce, Bruce Reihana and Sean (in the singular) Lamont.

That meant Sarries could not pip us to top spot in our EDF group whatever they managed to do at Bristol.

Despite the early stutter, certainly the best team won on the day and big credit must go to the whole team not just for the win but for not going into a state of panic and staying cool, calm and collected as they fought their way back into the tie.

There is a levelheadedness about the squad we have not seen too much of in recent years, and while everyone appears to play their part it seems that the calming influence on the pitch of old heads, especially Nacho Lobbe, seems to be the key.

You only have to look back to a certain cup final against London Irish to see how we handled pressure in the past.

This team in temperament, despite what the media and some personnel from other clubs might say, is light years ahead in that respect and long may it continue.

Saturday's win sees us join Cardiff Blues, the Ospreys and Gloucester in that double header up in Coventry on March 28.

We have been drawn against the Blues in the second game, kicking off at 5.15pm following on from Gloucester and the other Welsh side's encounter.

With the clubs only being allocated 6,000 tickets each, which is far less than either Saints or Gloucester's season-ticket holding, there is bound to be an initial scramble for seats.

On the face of it, not everybody will be happy, but with with Ticketmaster seemingly having tickets in abundance, a lot of Saints supporters are buying from them already.

And with the two Welsh sides unlikely to sell their full compliment, I think by hook or by crook everyone might just be accommodated.

You might not all get to sit where you want, but I'll be surprised if anyone misses the game, even though your ticket might take a little hunting down.

That is all for the future though, this week the Saints have a weekend off, but all eyes are on the following Sunday's visit to Bristol for the Guinness Premiership clash.