Northampton Saints flanker Tom Wood has revealed that his side drew motivation from their Heineken Cup heartbreak two years ago to upset Saracens and reach the Aviva Premiership final.
The Saints hadn't recorded a victory against a team in the top three all season but shocked the unbeaten Sarries to earn a 27-13 win at Allianz Park.
Northampton led Leinster 17-0 at half time in the 2011 Heineken Cup final before going on to lose the match, and Wood admits that Saints were keen to avoid another disappointment.
"We talked about that at half time, that 'we have been in this position before and let it slip so it was a huge motivation and it was on our minds," Wood told ESPN.
"We knew the next score was going to be crucial. We knew there would be a reaction and we did let them into the game a little bit. But we dug in.
"We were under enormous pressure on our line at times, our lineout defence was good, our maul defence was good and we hung in there."
Northampton will meet Leicester Tigers in the final at Twickenham on May 25.
Matt Cotton
