Smith hopes 'best fans in the league' can help to push Saints past Castres

Tickets went on sale for the Investec Champions Cup quarter-final late last Saturday night following confirmation that it would be Castres who would be coming to cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens.

The French side edged a thrilling round of 16 tie, beating Benetton 39-37, despite being down to 14 men for the final 38 minutes of the match.

And now Castres will be heading to the Gardens again, having lost to Saints there during the pool stages.

Phil Dowson's men were 46-24 winners against Clermont Auvergne last Friday night as their strong home form in the competition continued.

And England star Smith is hoping for more of the same, including another raucous atmosphere, this weekend.

"We're back at home and we're going to need everyone again to come out and get behind us because it makes a massive difference," Smith said.

"We love playing here, we've got the best fans in the league and I'm really excited for this weekend."

Saints showed their class against Clermont, playing at a tempo their Top 14 opponents couldn't live with at times.

And Smith said: "We're proud of it.

"We'd be lying if we said we weren't feeling the pressure because we felt like we owed the fans a lot after what they've had to watch over the past few weeks.

"We're delighted with that and it's great to finally get the ball rolling.

"We're at our best when we're moving the ball around, we're not tense and we're nice and relaxed.

"It's what we spoke about during the week and the way we responded to that bad start is what we're most proud of.

"We spoke about Clermont being a big side and often those big sides are not as fit as we are.

"We back ourselves to play fast and outlast them so that was a big aim.

"Definitely in the first half, we did that brilliantly, and then it was about holding on to it."

Smith returned to Saints last month following his heroics with England in the Guinness Six Nations.

He established himself as the first-choice 10 for the Red Rose.

And he said: "It's been good.

"I absolutely loved my time with England.

"It's been nice to reset and I feel like I've got loads more to give this team and hopefully we'll see what we can build."

Smith enjoyed scoring a rare try for Saints during the first half against Clermont.

And he joked: "It was a great finish, that, 40, 50 metres out, beat a few defenders…

"I think I'm averaging about 0.5 tries a season now so I'll definitely take that!"

Smith, who played for Saints in their 33-0 defeat to Leicester just six days after starting for England against Wales in the Six Nations last month, looked back to his best against Clermont after enjoying a mandatory rest week in Dubai.

"The main thing is just pitching up and having enough energy and physicality to give yourself a chance," he said.

"We could debrief that Leicester game all day and we spoke about what we could have done better, but ultimately if you don't pitch up and you're not physical and you don't run hard for each other, you're never going to get anywhere on a rugby pitch.

"So that was the main thing, it's definitely back and we can start layering on."