Mitchell reflects on 'massive result' after starring for Saints at Section Paloise

Mitchell led the black, green and gold out at Stade du Hameau on his 150th appearance for the club.

And the England star was named man of the match after scoring in a bonus-point 35-27 win that came despite Saints losing James Ramm to a 20-minute red card eight minutes into the second half.

"It's obviously a massive result," Mitchell said.

"I love coming to new places, I haven't been here before.

"It's an awesome little town and coming to an awesome stadium, it was an awesome atmosphere.

"I love the atmosphere the French bring, and getting five points - we're really pleased."

Saints had to battle hard to beat a Pau team who had won all six of their league games at home this season.

"We dug in, got a couple of tries in the second half and got five points so to come away from home and get five points here is pretty good," Mitchell said.

"It was very frustrating early on but we said at half-time it was a huge positive that we were creating chances, we just weren't finishing them off.

"We knew it would come in that second half, a few opportunities did come and we did take them.

"We managed to pull away at the end and it was a tough match."

Discussing the 20-minute red card period, Mitchell said: "It's a tricky part of the game and you have to look after the ball and their kicking game and not give them too many opportunities.

"We needed to slow the ball down when we could and when we could go, we wanted to score tries, and that's what we did.

"We dealt with it and in that last 15-20 minutes we were back to 15 and we knew we'd have opportunities to go and score, which was what we did."

The Pau fans created a big atmosphere, which meant Saints were up against it, especially as some key decisions went against them on the day.

"It (the atmosphere) definitely goes up a notch, especially going away from home against French sides," Mitchell said.

"It's a tough place to go, wherever you go in the Champions Cup, and we expected it. It came and they were very physical so we had to deal with that.

"Credit to them because they're a really good side, second in the Top 14, so it's no mean feat to come here and get a result."

Mitchell added: "It's a fantastic atmosphere.

"Obviously the TMO got involved a bit, made it clunky, stop-start, which we don't always enjoy because we want the game to flow and create opportunities, getting tempo in the game.

"It was obviously frustrating but you want to get the right decisions in the end.

"It's definitely a tough job for them (the officials) to do and it's just part and parcel of the game sometimes."

It was Mitchell's first game back for Saints after he was given a week off following the conclusion of his England commitments during the autumn.

And when asked if he found it tough to return in such a big game, Mitchell said: "Probably in my lungs - I was blowing a bit - but not with the plays and the coaches.

"When you're coming back in, the coaches make it so simple and easy to do that and you just fit back in.

"I don't try to overthink it.

"Fitness is one thing after having a week off and a few too many beers, but after looking after my fitness, the rest comes back pretty quickly."