Saints were seemingly cruising to their fifth win out of five in Europe at half-time, but a second half come back from the French meant Mallinder's men had to come from behind to win 28-24 and keep their 100 per cent record in the European Challenge Cup.

They missed out on a bonus point with three tries from Chris Mayor, Stephen Myler and Sean Lamont, but they are still on course to finish as one of the top two qualifiers to guarantee home advantage in the knockout stages.

Mallinder said: "It may have been thrilling as a game of rugby but as coaches it was a little too nerve wracking. We were delighted to win.

"It's a difficult place to come and play and to win but we could have done better. We should have controlled the game a little bit more; we forced a little too much ball. But we're top of the league with one game to go and if we beat Toulon we'll finish well up there."

New England recruit Ben Foden started at scrum-half and a series of breaks from the 23-year-old set-up plenty of good positions, but many were squandered as Saints let Montpellier off the hook in the first half.

"It is frustrating to see passes hit the floor but we want to play with ambition," said Mallinder.

"We want to play with width and move the ball and sometimes mistakes are going to be made. It's knowing when to give the ball and when to look after it. We made a number of mistakes but we did put together a number of good facets of play and we're pleased with that."

Mayor came into the side at inside centre to score his third try of the season and Mallinder was delighted with his contribution. Mallinder said: "Chris Mayor scored a very good try. He's got quick feet, as he proved and he's good defensively, as well as being strong.

"He's played most of his games at outside centre but he's played at inside centre for us as well this year."