Northampton rugby director Jim Mallinder praised his side's all-round game after they beat Perpignan 23-7 to reach the Heineken Cup final.
Hartley happy to be underdogs against Leinster
Northampton rugby director Jim Mallinder praised his side's all-round game after they beat Perpignan 23-7 to reach the Heineken Cup final.
"I am delighted. I am really proud of the performance - it's a fantastic achievement," he said.
"I think we've been criticised a bit in the past for being one one-dimensional with our forward power, but I was delighted today to see our all-round game.
"You always hope for a first half like that, and then it was a case of keeping playing the way we were playing.
"It is very important to savour the moment, to enjoy it and take a really long day off tomorrow. Then we are back in it - we have got to beat Leeds next Saturday to finish in the top four in the Premiership.
"It's all about winning - no-one remembers losing semi-finalists or losing finalists. We've done remarkably well, but we haven't won anything yet.
"We will look at Leinster and make sure we are accurate against them. They are full of international-quality players with recent experience of winning competitions."
Perpignan's England prop Perry Freshwater admitted the Catalans were "outmuscled" by the end of a one-sided contest.
"We wanted to get into them early, but by the end we were outmuscled," said the ex-Leicester loosehead.
"We started really well, but we lost a crucial lineout and then we lost our shape completely. There was a lack of discipline.
"I thought Northampton were very good on the day - they were very smart - and there is no doubt they are a good side."
Perpignan coach Jacques Brunel added: "Things built up against us. During the second part of the first half, it started to slip away."
Underdogs
Meanwhile, Dylan Hartley believes Northampton will relish the tag of underdogs when they face Irish former champions Leinster in Cardiff on May 21.
"I think we go in as underdogs - we've already been told that," said Saints skipper and England hooker Hartley.
"I think we were under the radar even going into this game, to be honest, but we've worked hard together and we are in a cup final.
"It's a one-off game, and it's quite nice going in as underdogs. This team can beat any team on its day."
Saints' victory was underpinned by their dominance up-front, with Hartley and props Soane Tonga'uiha and Brian Mujati playing a key role in preventing Perpignan from establishing momentum.
"We spoke in the week about gaining parity up front, but we got a little bit of dominance in the end," added Hartley.
"It takes 40 minutes of tiring out the opposition, and 20 minutes into the second half we started to get an edge."
