Pountney said: "The fact is, I am really enjoying what the coaches are doing. I love the way we are playing - it's real edge of your seat stuff. We all hate losing - every person in the team is a born winner or they would not be part of it - but they are loving the way we are playing. It is a breath of fresh air to me and we are not going to back away from what we are doing."

Pountney, who spent three hours with Saturday's referee Chris White before attending today's press conference, has come under some criticism following four straight defeats in the GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP. The coaching staff and the players will be hoping to reverse the losing streak this Saturday, albeit at the very difficult away venue of Welford Road.

"It's a tough place. Leicester get the added advantage in that it's Welford Road, which is a very intimidating place to go."

Saints felt the full weight of the Welford Road advantage when Leicester beat their derby visitors 32-0 on the first day of the 2005/06 season, but Pountney is treating Saturday's game as a complete one-off.

"It's slightly different this week. There is an end consequence for this one. There is a semi-final at the Millennium Stadium at stake. This is a one-off special. It's chance to get rid of all the baggage.

"We don't have to chase this one, so we can really concentrate on what we have to do. We do not have to force it. We don't have to make a real go of scoring four tries.We have just got to keep the ball and keep the pressure on.

"We have got to play to our strengths and avoid playing to theirs, and not give away penalties. We need to force them to play from a long way out and when we have got the bal, we need to play our game."

The question of penalties was obviously still fresh in Pountney's mind following his meeting with Mr White and Ed Morrison's appearance as the guest speaker at last night's testimonial dinner. He added; "I have just had a three-hour meeting with the referee and it is a case of being smart and not being dumb. We don't want to give away stupid penalties - we cannot afford to do that. If you look at the Premiership and I think if we had not given away 14 penalties, we would have won six of the games we lost."

Pountney concluded: "I am not going to back away from what we are trying to do. When you watch us play, we are one of the most exciting teams to watch. That's what rugby has always been about for me. The players are enjoying what's happening here. They are frustrated that we are not getting the wins but they are enjoying each other's company; they are hungry for knowledge and training. They are soaking it up like a sponge. As far as they can see, this is a chance to play some quite brilliant rugby."