Dylan Hartley believes that Northampton Saints must lift European rugby's biggest club prize if they are to be considered among the best.
The Saints take on Clermont Auvergne at the Stade Marcel Michelin this evening in a mammoth European Rugby Champions Cup quarter-final tie.
Having been a part of the side that fell 33-22 against Leinster in the 2011 Heineken Cup final, Hartley is all too aware of the heartbreak that defeat in this competition can bring.
"We are in a better place now," the Saints skipper is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail. "We had a good run [in 2011]. Everything seemed to go our way, bar 40 minutes. That probably exhausted us. We had one team that played every game.
"We've got a better balanced squad now, men fighting for positions. We've won the Premiership, which is nice, we'd like to win it again this year, but as a squad if we want to progress we've got to win bigger things and the European Cup's that. Our squad responds well to a challenge and we're fully aware of what we want to be.
"There's not the big motivational chat. Everyone's clued in. We know what we've got to do. It feels like we've put the effort in to make it this far in the tournament, we should really progress to a final and give ourselves a good chance. It's a progression from going from a good club to a great club."
Northampton are on track to winning the Aviva Premiership title once more, having opened up a 10-point gap over second-placed Saracens.
Daniel Lewis
