A late, late Alex Waller try in extra-time saw the men in black, green and gold edge Saracens in the most dramatic of finals and Mallinder was at a loss for words after emotional celebrations.
“I don’t think I can do it justice myself,” he told SaintsTV. “I think it will probably start to sink in on the coach journey home. Hopefully the town will all be waiting back at the club with a beer and we can all celebrate together, because it’s been a town effort.
“They deserve this as much as the team do and hopefully it’s the first of many trophies.”
With Saracens leading 20-17 and time up, three points would have handed Saints victory by way of more tries scored during the match, but Mallinder backed his squad for their insistence on battering away at a defensive line that finally cracked.
“I was probably thinking drop goal at the end as we were in a brilliant position through all those phases. But credit to the lads - they showed the belief to keep on pushing towards the line and it was fantastic to get the right decision at the end.
“It was always going to be a close game and even at 14-9 we had a lot of work to do. Credit to Saracens for coming back into the game and putting us under a lot of pressure, but our defence was very good.
“At the end of the day no one will remember the performance, just the fact that Northampton Saints are the champions.”
