Darbon said his residual feeling from the Twickenham experience was still "more relief than elation".

He described watching the game, in which Saints were outplayed for much of the second half, as "the least enjoyable 80 minutes of my life".

Planning for next season will begin very soon with the club also buoyed by their commercial success in the 2023-24 season.

"A few things play into that. First and foremost whether we won the Premiership or not, we played good rugby this year and people want to come and watch it," Darbon added.

"The halo impact of getting to the latter stages and ultimately winning, we've sold a load of stuff through our shop in the last few days, champions merchandise, and our season tickets are stronger than they've been at any point in the last five or six years already.

"It's all self-perpetuating when the games are selling out regularly, you need a season ticket or a membership to secure your place. It's a virtuous circle and we've benefitted from that this year."