Saints scrum-half Matt Dawson has hailed his Kiwi coach Wayne Smith for influenece he has had at the Franklin's Gardens club.

The former All Black chief has revolutionised life at Franklin's Gardens after taking over day-to-day duties from John Steele in November.

Saints have been transformed from likely relegation candidates to potential trophy winners in the space of four months, with the entire Northampton squad citing Smith as the catalyst.

And no-one is more grateful than Dawson, whose career had taken a huge nosedive in November when he lost his England place and then suffered a serious shoulder problem which ruled him out for the first two months of the new man's reign.

"I am looking at the game in a new light now and that is down to Wayne Smith," admitted the 29-year-old Lion.

"I always thought I was very professional in my attitude but some bad habits had been creeping into my game in areas which I had taken for granted.

"Since Ian McGeechan left I have not had anyone pulling me aside regularly and not just telling me what I am doing wrong, but what I am doing right.

"People don't want to tell you because you have 40-odd caps. You can get away with it for a certain amount by using your experience or trying to coach yourself."

Dawson claims there is not an area of his game which has not developed since Smith's arrival, although he also somewhat dubiously comments that he now talks more to his own players and less to the referee.

London Irish coach Brendan Venter highlighted the scrum-half's reputation for trying to influence the referee earlier in the week, although Dawson shrugged the comments off with a rueful smile.

"It's a bit like the pot calling the kettle black isn't it," he smiled.

Neither is Dawson particularly concerned about the fall-out from the last meeting between the teams in December, a bad-tempered affair from which Saints emerged 24-15 victors with Venter complaining the home team were 'a dirty side'.

"No-one broke down and cried about the accusation, but it was wrong," said Dawson.

"It was a hard, physical game and nothing untoward happened. The injuries were genuine injuries and the fact no action was taken after the game backs that up.

"I can't imagine there will be any carry over from that. We are fully focused on trying to win on Saturday and I'm sure London Irish feel the same.

"If you are worried about what happened a few months ago you are not doing your job properly."

As a veteran of many big Twickenham match days, Dawson could be forgiven for taking the build-up to Saturday's sell-out final in his stride, but that is far from the truth.

"I am not used to it," he insisted. "You are representing your town - the place where you live and the people you live with.

"There is no-one with a huge amount of experience at winning domestic trophies here. It doesn't matter how many tours you have, there will be a lot of nerves."

Smith's influence has turned the season on its head, and no matter what the outcome of Saturday's game, Dawson feels the progress made should not go to waste as it did two years ago.

"This club has bigger aspirations," he said. "Of course this game has more attention, but there are another five or six left this season and each of them is as important.

"The coaches, officials, players and supporters want to see this team winning in Europe again. If we can collect some trophies on the way, that is an added bonus."