Northampton Saints will be putting their feet up for the rest of the weekend after becoming the first team to qualify for the 2011 Heineken Cup quarter-finals.
No English team managed to win their Pool last season, but Jim Mallinder's Saints side not only clinched top spot in Pool 1 with a game to go with their 37-0 win over Edinburgh on Friday night, but now find themselves one win away from a clean sweep of Pool games.
Only three English teams before them have ever won all their Pool matches - Bath, with six out of six in 2001/02, London Wasps, with six out of six in 1997/98 and Leicester Tigers, with four out of four in 1996/97.
"We are delighted to be in the quarter-finals and it is another great step forward for the club. But now we have to try to get a home quarter-final by winning in Castres next week," said Saints director of rugby Mallinder.
"This is the second year in a row we have qualified for the knock-out stages and I think we have learned the lessons of our two trips to Munster last year where we lost in the Pool and the quarter-finals.
"We've had some good wins away from home this season, especially in Edinburgh and Cardiff in the Heineken Cup, but it would be great to have a home draw in the quarter-finals.
"We have discussed the possibility of moving to Milton Keynes if we did get a home quarter-final, but nothing has been decided as yet. For the rest of the weekend we will sit back and see how the other sides go."
