If you have been lulled into a false sense of security over the past few weeks after the Saints’ winning run then you would not have been on your own to expect a better showing in the big east midlands derby at the weekend.
Saints have gradually picked themselves up over recent weeks and Tigers have not looked invincible during the Six Nations period.
I said last week the form book would go out of the window but I did not expect it to be such one-way traffic.
Saints have come up short every time they have played one of the other top-four sides this season but those defeats have been relatively narrow.
They were defeats all the same, that frustrated and disappointed, but Saturday was different – it was a huge body blow.
It is a long time since I remembered a Saints team being totally outclassed in a big derby game; yes we lost against the Tigers two times last season but nothing on this scale. There is no hiding behind the fact this was a hammering and if you are anything like me you have had to cope with satisfied grins from Tigers fans over the past few days.
All of the question marks against the team were ruthlessly exposed, and while Saints have held their own against Tigers up front in the past few meetings, Saturday was totally controlled by Tigers.
It was a sobering day for anyone who had believed a corner had been turned after recent results. The stand-out players for Tigers were two players that were kept very quiet in the Six Nations decider a couple of weeks ago, Manu Tuilagi and Tom Croft.
Both were outstanding, particularly Tuilagi who simply destroyed the Saints in the second half. If he was left frustrated after the Wales clash he seemed to have saved that pent-up tension for the Saints.
His performance , as will that of Croft, gave a timely reminder of his capability to rip holes in Australian defences this summer for the Lions.
I am not sure that the Aussie defences will be as accommodating as Saints were on Saturday but he once again gave us a physical reminder of his talents.
Reading Tigers coach Richard Cockerill’s comments about their preparation for the game during the week, we should not be surprised at the result.
They had spent Tuesday knocking lumps out of each other and ‘brawling’ (Cockerill’s words), working on lineout drives and mauls.
These sessions are legendary at Tigers, a little old-school perhaps in the modern game, but it got the outcome on Saturday as they stopped Saints’ big weapon of the driving maul and with that the game was in the bag. Cockerill is an acquired taste for lots of people but you cannot fault his passion for his club and his heart-on-the-sleeve attitude. There is lots to admire about that in my opinion, yes he oversteps the mark sometimes but he does seems to inspire his team to step up a level when they need to.
There were really no crumbs of comfort for Saints to take out of the game as they were comprehensively taken apart in every department.
It will be a big job to pick themselves up for the next fixture against London Welsh.
Although Welsh are now odds-on for the drop I can see them taking one more scalp at least before their fate is sealed, Saints will need to look very long and hard at themselves in the mirror over the next week or so as any chink in the armour will be exposed.
They will encounter a Welsh team desperate to prove a point after events off the pitch have effectively made their task of survival almost impossible.
Saints still have a run-in that could see them make the play-offs, but I do not think that there is any real chance that they will progress any further than the semi-final; the likelihood is that they will travel to Saracens if they do qualify and with their current form and confidence you cannot predict anything other than a home win.
Full column in this week’s Chronicle & Echo