I agree with Radio Northampton, who said that Carlos game a master class. Then the icing on the cake – Bedford beat Exeter with Saints old boy Ben Patston dropping a goal in the final minute. It may have been a long journey from The Brickfields in the wind and rain but I appear to have floated back on cloud nine.

Obviously we all have to return to earth and get on with it otherwise we could end up with a nasty bump.

A big welcome today to Andy Northey, a favourite old boy of the Saints, and his Sedgley Park team. When we played them earlier in the season (on World Cup quarter final day – who could forget?) they entertained us royally and were very welcoming to our team and our supporters. If we get back into the Premiership it will be something I’ll miss. Some of the Premiership teams seem to have lost the plot in this area. It’s important we don’t. We want to move on but keep the traditions on which the club was based.

After today’s game we will have played 20 games in the league – exactly two-thirds of the way through the fixture list. The $64,000 question is: when exactly we will know when we have made it? We could run a little competition! However March 22nd, when we are at home to Exeter, will be a significant day. A win here for the Saints could effectively seal it.

I’m not counting my chickens, but believe me as soon as we cross the finishing line we will be selling our season tickets for next year. Eleven home league games, two home matches in the Anglo-Welsh Cup and six in the European Challenge Cup. The ECC is obviously not as exciting as the Heineken Cup, although we could have Wasps or Leicester (or both!) playing in it, so who knows?

Obviously Jim is deeply involved in recruitment for next year. This is a difficult task but the future of the club is in good hands with Jim and his coaching team. The definitely know what they are looking for. I did smile this weekend though.

As the chairman I don’t get involved with selecting players to sign. Neither do other members of the board, apart from Colin Povey, Nick Beal and Phil Pask, who are on the rugby selection panel. We like to keep our targets to ourselves, but I switched on BBC Radio Northampton on Sunday to hear it announced that we had signed Roger Wilson from Ulster!

Obviously we like to keep fans in the picture as soon as we can. However we can never jump the gun and until we have a signature on a contract nothing is certain.

After today’s game we have two quick visits to Doncaster. Both games are extremely important. The first will put us in the quarter finals of the EDF Energy National Trophy, just two games away from Twickenham. The second will be another step forward in the search for promotion.

For both of these games we are unlikely to have Chris Ashton and Dylan Hartley, both of whom were selected for the Saxons. If Euan Murray does recover quickly we will lose him to Scotland’s Six Nations campaign. With a few injuries, including Sean Lamont and Robbie Kydd, we do need a modicum of luck on the injury front.

As always I ask you to be the extra player. You do make a fantastic difference, especially on away trips. I was so proud to see Saints shirts in Camborne and Plymouth. We all need to stick together and make a massive effort until the prizes are won.

Enjoy today’s game.