Northampton coach Wayne Smith looked for positves as he picked through the pieces follwoing his side's Powergen Cup Final defeat at the hands of London Irish.

The former All Black chief saw his hopes of cementing the Saints' massive recent improvement with a trophy swept casually aside during a one-sided Powergen Cup Final.

Irish swamped Northampton with an avalanche of first-half points, then snuffed out a late revival to record a 38-7 win, sending the Franklin's Gardens side spinning to their third domestic cup final defeat on the trot.

After being built up as favourites on the back on an impressive run of form, it was an unexpected jolt for the 25,000 Northampton fans who made the journey south.

Smith held his hands up to some blunders of his own, but refused to get downcast, insisting the team he is building can still reach his own lofty expectations.

"I knew London Irish were ahead of us, I was just hoping it wouldn't be quite so far," said Smith, who was suffering only his third defeat since arriving from New Zealand in November.

"They were very well prepared and have played with a consistency and edge all season. That is why they are second in the Premiership.

"I am trying to develop the same attitude and spirit. But London Irish have been working at it longer and we could do worse than use them as a role model."

Northampton were dismantled by a quickfire double from Geoff Appleford and Michael Horak.

Justin Bishop added a third score late in the opening period and though the Saints battered their opponents line in the final stages of the half, they couldn't find a way through.

With a larger percentage of possession than they had managed before the interval, Smith's men at least fought their way back into the contest through Ben Cohen's well taken try.

But when Appleford intercepted Matt Dawson's pass and scorched the length of the field, any faint hopes of victory were snuffed out, rendering Bishop's final try meaningless.

"We didn't handle the occasion," admitted Smith.

"The depth of their spirit overwhelmed us from the start and we never regained our composure.

"We were too hyper and I didn't do a very good job at managing the players. I am still learning about them and it is something I will have to improve on.

"When you are over emotional, you tend to dive into areas you shouldn't and make decisions you shouldn't make.

"I feel embarrassed that we weren't able to put up a decent show for the supporters."

Very few Northampton players came out with any credit, although Cohen probably finished marginally on the plus side, as did lock Johan Ackermann, who battled bravely despite not being 100 per cent fit.

However, they have produced too much fine rugby over the past few weeks to be ditched for one high-profile failure, although James Brooks may be looking for an extended run in the side at the expense of ineffective Scot Craig Moir.

Saints have little time to get over their misery and will be looking to bounce back next Saturday in a home Premiership encounter with Saracens.

"I was always concerned about next week, whether we had won or lost," he said.

"There was likely to be a hangover of one sort or another, but my job is to make sure the players are up for the game.

"I am not discouraged. We got it badly wrong on the day but we have come a long way in a short space of time.

"We are building for the future and we just have to keep working hard to make progress."

Skipper Budge Pountney dismissed talk of an interval rift with Dawson as 'frustration', and admitted Saints had underperformed in certain areas.

"I don't think we were honest with ourselves at the breakdown," he said.

"London Irish did their jobs but we didn't work hard enough.

"They hit us hard in the collisions and we didn't come up with the right answers."