Northampton Saints want to transfer domestic form to Europe, says Ollie Sleightholme

Ollie Sleightholme has scored seven tries for Northampton this season

Northampton Saints are determined to continue their form in Europe after returning to the top of the Premiership with a thrilling victory over Exeter.

Saints came from 26-0 down to run in six tries and win 42-36 at Sandy Park, to climb above Harlequins.

They now face European Champions Cup fixtures against Bayonne and Munster, having won both group games so far.

"We're such a close group, all good mates, and that makes it 10 times better," said wing Ollie Sleightholme.

"We're top of the pile here, we want to transfer that over to Europe and put our game on the European stage."

Sleightholme, the son of former England wing Jon, scored a hat-trick against the Chiefs and now has 33 tries for Northampton since his debut during the 2018-19 season.

He admitted Saints were shocked to find themselves so far behind in the first half but trusted that if they could get on the front foot more, they could put points on the board.

"We know that when we do put our game on the pitch, we can turn a game around like that," the 23-year-old told BBC Radio Northampton.

"It was a case of really pushing on and getting our heads together and being like 'lads we know what we can do when we're firing, let's start doing that'.

"We just needed to play in different areas of the pitch. If you do then make mistakes, they're not in your own half.

"We're buzzing with the win. To come back from 26-0 shows a real character in the team."

Director of rugby Phil Dowson took the opportunity to rest some of his big names, with England scrum-half Alex Mitchell starting on the bench and Courtney Lawes not in the matchday squad.

"It was in the context of a long period of games, back to back to back - Courtney Lawes can't play every minute of every game, Alex Mitchell can't play every minute of every game, much as you'd like them to because they're top quality," Dowson said.

"You've got to trust the squad. Although you may go behind in the first half, we purposely made no changes at half-time to allow that group to go out and show what they're capable of."

It is 10 years since Northampton won their only Premiership title, but Dowson insisted it was too soon to contemplate a repeat.

"Top at Christmas or top at New Year is irrelevant," he added.

"They're not giving out medals of trophies for it. The tournament finishes in the summer and we've got to make sure we're focused on the small things that we do every day to help us get to this point, to help us win games like that."

On the forthcoming Champions Cup games, Dowson said their goal in the competition this season was "to have some fun with it".

"We've got two massive games (coming up), Bayonne are packed full of quality. We know that's a huge challenge," he said.

"Then Munster away, it's a glamour fixture - one I played in and coached in last year. Thomond Park is an exciting place to be, a tough place to be, that's another challenge we're excited about."