Saints secure cup quarter-final date after Valentine's Day victory at Nottingham

Savala hadn't scored in 12 appearances for the black, green and gold, but the centre got off the mark at The Bay as he showed power and skill to deliver a treble in a 66-33 win against Nottingham.

There were also first Saints scores for Iakopo Mapu and Rafe Witheat on a night when Saints notched 10 tries.

Phil Dowson's men had headed up the M1 knowing just a bonus point would do in pursuit of a last-eight place, and they were camped inside the the home 22 early on, earning a couple of penalties and opting to try to run through Nottingham.

But the hosts held out well on a couple of occasions before winning a breakdown penalty to relieve some of the pressure.

Nottingham soon applied some pressure of their own, with a fine kick from Matthew Arden forcing Craig Wright to scramble back to stop the onrushing home side getting to the ball first.

Saints won a scrum penalty to allow them to escape from inside their own 22, but Nottingham were showing real desire in defence and attack, and it was they who struck first.

The Championship side worked their way towards the Saints line and eventually flanker Sam Green picked up from the breakdown to score next to the left post.

Arden converted and Nottingham held a 7-0 lead with 11 minutes gone.

Saints showed their eagerness to respond in rapid fashion as Iakopo Mapu, who had been making some impressive metres early on, carried well before Savala forced his way over for his first try for the club.

George Makepeace-Cubitt converted well, but Nottingham hit back almost immediately as Tom James slipped when chasing back to gather a Ryan Olowofela kick, leaving the onrushing Harry Graham with an open goal as he picked up to score.

Arden converted, but again Saints recovered quickly, staying patient before Mapu powered over for his first try for the black, green and gold.

Makepeace-Cubitt missed the conversion to leave his team two points behind, but they almost took the lead when they surged over the line, only to find themselves held up by some good last-ditch defending.

It didn't take much longer for Saints to go ahead though as James cleverly placed a grubber for George Hendy to dive on the ball for a comeback score.

Makepeace-Cubitt converted well to make it 19-14 and Saints were really starting to lift the tempo, with James at the heart of it all.

The scrum-half eventually finished off a move full of pace and power, diving over to deliver the bonus-point score.

Makepeace-Cubitt converted superbly from out wide and Nottingham were soon down to 14 men as centre Jack Stapley was shown a yellow card.

Saints soon scored again as Savala powered over for his second, but Makepeace-Cubitt couldn't add the extras on this occasion.

Still, Saints headed in at half-time 31-14 up and knowing their cup quarter-final place was secure.

Saints showed no signs of switching off early in the second half as they won a penalty at a Nottingham scrum before Tom Litchfield cruised over for his side's sixth try.

Makepeace-Cubitt easily converted before Stapley returned from the sin bin.

Saints remained on the front foot and after Rafe Witheat kicked as loose ball ahead, he won the race with Hendy to get to it first, grounding it for his first Saints score.

Makepeace-Cubitt again added the extras, but Nottingham finally had something to shout about soon after as they worked a lineout well, forcing Saints to pull the drive down close to the line, prompting referee Andy Wigley to award a penalty try.

Mapu was yellow carded for his part in the incident, but Saints quickly scored with 14 men as Savala made the most of fine work from James to notch his hat-trick.

Nottingham kept fighting though and with their scrum helping to secure them penalties, they were able to apply some pressure.

Saints saw a clearance kick charged down and Xavier Valentine aptly scored on Valentine's Day, bagging his side the try bonus point in the process.

Tom Threlfall converted and Saints were continuing to ship penalties, putting themselves in unnecessary difficult positions.

Neither side was running out of steam despite the fact the pitch was really cutting up, with both teams looking to strike on the counter-attack when given the chance.

Nottingham were really building some confidence and they grabbed a deserved try as Threlfall went over before missing the conversion.

There was still time for Saints to score again themselves as Alex Coles gave the ball to Tom Seabrook, and the wing turned on the turbos to score out wide.

Makepeace-Cubitt, who had been battling a knee knock for some time, managed to convert in fine fashion to make it 59-33.

And Saints finished with one final flourish as Makepeace-Cubitt chipped ahead, allowing Archie Benson bagged his first Saints score.

The Makepeace-Cubitt conversion meant Saints had doubled Nottingham’s score on a night when 99 points had been scored in the match.

Nottingham: 15. Ryan Olowofela (Sam Mercer 59); 14. David Williams (c), 13. Jack Stapley, 12. Javiah Pohe, 11. Harry Graham; 10. Matthew Arden (Tom Threlfall 47), 9. Will Yarnell (Toby Venner 51); 1. Kai Owen (Aniseko Sio 51), 2. Harry Clayton (Antonio Harris 51), 3. Dan Richardson (Xavier Valentine 51); 4. Jack Shine, 5. Sebastian Ferreira (Kody Vereti 51); 6. Sam Green (Jay Ecclesfield 51), 7. Nathan Tweedy (vc), 8. James Cherry.

Saints: 15. George Hendy; 14. Rafe Witheat (Will Glister 58), 13. Tom Litchfield, 12. Charlie Savala (Billy Pasco 68), 11. Tom Seabrook; 10. George Makepeace-Cubitt, 9. Tom James (Jonny Weimann 65); 1. Emmanuel Iyogun (Tom West 51), 2. Craig Wright (Henry Walker 58), 3. Elliot Millar Mills (Beltus Nonleh 63); 4. Ed Prowse, 5. Alex Coles; 6. Archie Benson, 7. Angus Scott-Young (c) (Tom Pearson 63), 8. Iakopo Mapu (Fyn Brown 63).

Referee: Andy Wigley

Attendance: 2,087