Opposition view: Vass feels Clermont 'fed' Saints at the Gardens

Clermont had flown out of the blocks, moving into a 10-0 lead early on, but Saints came roaring back, scoring seven tries as they booked a home Investec Champions Cup quarter-final for a second season in succession.

Saints proved too hot for the French side to handle at times, playing at a lightning-quick pace that paid dividends.

And Vass, who was Saints defence coach until June 2023 and is now Clermont kicking coach, said: "We were well in the game when (Bautista) Delguy went through and dropped the ball and then Northampton went up the other end (and scored).

"We just lost control for 20 minutes, card after card, and fed their game with ill discipline. They made the most of it, as they nearly always do when the ball is fast.

"You can't really argue with the result at all, we just fed their game in the middle period.

"We gained a bit of control for 10, 15 minutes and we were in the game again, but we never really got to grips with it with all the injuries and changes, and we could never really say it was an opportunity to win."

Clermont lost four players to injury and two to the sin bin on a brutal night at the Gardens.

And Vass added: "We backed up turnovers with a penalty, which led to a quick tap, which led to a yellow card, which leads to a try.

"They made the most of those situations, that's what they do and that's what we said before the game we didn't want to happen, but that's what came to pass.

"You can't argue with anything that happened, I just think we had an opportunity to test their confidence early on, which we did, and we had a chance to go score but we didn't take it.

"Eventually they gained confidence and the end result was the end result after that."