Perhaps these clubs should employ Michael Fish rather than coaches to prepare for their fixtures against each other.

Last February their game at Franklins Gardens was called off when storms caused havoc. When that match was played two months later Wagnerian thunder and lightning filled the sky.

But, obviously, practising in the wet did the clubs no harm. Thirty synchronised swimmers could not have performed better on the skid-pan that was the Sunbury pitch on Saturday.

In the end it was Northampton who came bobbing to the surface. "It was Limerick weather," said Irish's director of rugby Dick Best. "The trouble is we didn't have enough Limerick players in the team."

Nowadays Irishmen seem a little thin on the ground in this Exiles side. Best has replaced many of the Irish players who returned to their homeland last summer with southern hemisphere imports and another of them, the former All Blacks fly-half Steve Bachop, is arriving later this week.

But it was Northampton's imports who paved the way for this fourth successive English Premiership victory. Pat Lam was outstanding in the back row. The Western Samoan was involved in virtually every Northampton attack. He made the first two tries and scored the third 15 minutes after the break, which clinched the game.

In front of him the Springbok Garry Pagel and the Argentinian Federico Mendez provided the ballast in the front row that eventually sapped the strength of an Irish side who were blown away by the power of the Saints pack.

Pagel gave the Exiles tight-head Kris Fullman an uncomfortable afternoon while Mendez barged around like a Pampas bullock. The Irish simply saw too little of the ball after the break to keep their heads above water. There was rarely any chance of the Exiles repeating the victory over Leicester four days earlier.

Best added: "Tuesday night took its toll. To play three games of this quality in a week is difficult and today we just didn't have the juice in the tank for one more effort. In midweek Northampton were able to play some reserves in their friendly against Swansea but we only have a small squad of players and fielded the same side. We lacked that extra bit of technique and power to cope."

Ian McGeechan, Best's opposite number, said the display contained some of the "best wetweather rugby" he had seen. From a man who has coached sides to play from Edinburgh to Invercargill, that was quite something.

London Irish: O'Shea (capt); Bishop, Burrows, Venter, Woods; Jones (Brown, 55min), Campbell; Worsley (Hardwick, 77), Kirke, Full man, Harvey, O'Kelly, Boer, K Dawson, Gallacher (Spicer, 58).

Northampton: Beal; Moir, Dantiacq (Nor they, 65), Allen, Sleightholme; Hepher, M Dawson; Pagel, Mendez, Hynes, Phillips, Metcalfe, Mackinnon (Seely, 65), Pountney, Lam.

Referee: B Campsall (Yorkshire).