Saints match-winner Grayson: That was for the fans!

Fans of the black, green and gold have been forced to endure some big defeats against Saracens during recent times.

Saints had not won at Allianz Park since March 2016 and were on a six-match league losing streak against Mark McCall's men prior to Saturday's encounter.

Not only that, but they had shipped an average of 51 points across their previous three trips to Allianz Park.

But Saints banished those demons as Grayson landed a last-gasp penalty to give his team a deserved 27-25 success on Saturday afternoon.

And the fly-half said: "We'd conceded 50 points far too often prior to that so that was for the fans that have stuck with us through it, and obviously Dave Ribbans on his 50th Saints appearance. It was nice to be able to get the win at the end for Dave.

"It was a huge shift for the whole of the pack: James Fish playing 80 minutes at hooker, Alex Coles playing six when he's a lock.

"The boys really dug in and really grafted for 80 minutes and that showed at the end because we managed to squeeze it.

"You've got to try to take the positives out of it and winning here doesn't happen often.

"We left a couple of opportunities out there as well and if we'd converted those, we'd have been looking really dangerous.

"The type of rugby we're trying to play is really positive.

"We made a couple of mistakes, which is going to be part of our game, but if we can tighten up on that, we're going to be a very dangerous side.

"They've had a formula for a long time now and it seems to work for them because they were getting penalties and Spencer was kicking.

"But when we had the ball we looked dangerous and it was about trying to figure out how we could get the ball off them."

First-half scores from Ribbans, Rory Hutchinson and Henry Taylor had propelled Saints into a 21-16 half-time lead.

But they were made to work hard by the Premiership and Champions Cup champions, who had gone 25-24 up thanks to the boot of Ben Spencer.

Grayson had the last word, though.

And he said: "You try to block it (the pressure situation) out and you stick to your processes because there's plenty of long hours that go into it.

"A couple of minutes before I'd just missed touch when we'd been defending for four minutes so I was kicking myself a bit.

"But luckily the boys managed to work hard, get us a penalty and that's what you're paid for at the end of the day: to knock those over.

"It's about plenty of cold mornings kicking in the dark and if you stick to your processes, it takes care of itself."

Grayson received a text from his father, Saints legend Paul Grayson, who is currently working as a pundit at the World Cup in Japan, after Saturday's win.

He explained: "I looked at my phone and I had one text from him which was just a fist bump emoji.

"That's as far as our conversation will go, I reckon."

Next up for Saints is their first home game of the Premiership season as they welcome Worcester Warriors on Saturday.

And Grayson said: "Back home in front of our faithful fans and it means nothing if we don't go back and win there.

"Monday morning our attentions will turn to them and see what they bring.

"For the moment, we can enjoy this."