Treviso coach Franco Smith said his team had proved they could compete at the top level of European club rugby after pushing the Amlin Challenge Cup holders close on Saturday evening.
Smith watched his team pushing the Guinness Premeriship outfir to close but were made to pay for momentary lapses in concentration.
He said: "We have shown in the two games with Northampton that we are up there at a level where we can compete in the Heineken Cup. If we were able to play regularly at this level, we are good enough to get a result.
"But the difference was a lack of concentration at crucial moments of the game, espoecially in defence. We made a few specific errors such as missed tackles but that is a problem when you are not used to playing against such strong opponents every week.
"We made mistakes at the end of the first half and beginning of the second half but I'm happy with the way we came back. We tried to play some rugby and our first try showed we have ability in our backs and not just our forwards."
