A fast start for the hosts set the tone for Northampton Saints' 51-16 victory over Castres Olympique.
Tommy Freeman danced down the wing before offloading to a freshly introduced George Furbank. Freeman then tucked in behind, picking the ball back up to fittingly finish off a stunning move himself for his 10th try in his last eight outings.
Feeling Castres breathing down their neck with a penalty in the meantime, Saints wanted more.
Furbank was to add another key contribution to his collection for the afternoon when his kick bobbled into the path of hooker Curtis Langdon, who gladly grabbed the five points.
Castres struggled against a dominant Saints for the ensuing phases of play, but the French side warmed into the tie as the half grew older.
And they had something to write home about in 25 minutes when Jeremy Fernandez, last week’s comeback hero, added another to his Investec Champions Cup collection when he battled the ball into touch following a tense ruck.
This seemed to provide all the motivation Saints needed to put their foot well and truly back on the accelerator, though. A matter of seconds after a Leone Nakarawa yellow card, the English side made the most, and Alex Coles bundled it through some scrambling Castres hands to double the deficit between the two.
A late Castres penalty brought the French side to within a converted try of the hosts.
An early second-half penalty brought Castres to within four, but it also served as a kickstart to the Saints' attacks.
Furbank eventually finished a lengthy ruck-after-ruck move shortly after when he bruised his way over under the posts to restore the hosts’ 10+ point lead.
Things weren’t over for Saints, as Pollock added another soon after. Bursting through the Castres defensive line before dropping the shoulder to find space, Alex Mitchell did most of the heavy lifting prior to Pollock collecting with just metres to cover.
And it was the Mitchell-Pollock partnership that prevailed once again just past the hour mark. Some dizzying hands from Mitchell had the Castres defence in bits before Pollock walked it home.
The scores weren’t over for the Saints despite the distance between the two sides, and Tom Pearson made the most of some tired Castres legs at the death.
It’s a second semi-final in as many years for Northampton Saints now, and they’ll go back up against their foes from last year - Leinster. Will it be second-time lucky for the English side?
Scorers:
Northampton Saints: Tries: Tommy Freeman, Curtis Langdon, Alex Coles, George Furbank, Henry Pollock (2), Tom Pearson. Conversions: Fin Smith (5). Penalties: Fin Smith (2).
Castres Olympique: Try: Jeremy Fernandez. Conversion: Jeremy Fernandez. Penalties: Jeremy Fernandez (3)
Teams:
Northampton Saints: 15 James Ramm, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Burger Odendaal, 12 Fraser Dingwall (c), 11 George Hendy, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Henry Pollock, 6 Josh Kemeny, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Temo Mayanavanua, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun. Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Tom West, 18 Elliot Millar-Mills, 19 Tom Lockett, 20 Tom Pearson, 21 Tom James, 22 Rory Hutchinson, 23 George Furbank.
Castres Olympique: 15 Theo Chabouni, 14 Geoffrey Palis, 13 Vilimoni Botitu, 12 Jack Goodhue, 11 Rémy Baget, 10 Louis le Brun, 9 Jeremy Fernandez, 8 Abraham Papalii, 7 Baptiste Delaporte, 6 Mathieu Babillot, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Gauthier Maravat, 3 Will Collier, 2 Gaetan Barlot, 1 Quentin Walker. Replacements: 16 Loris Zarantonello, 17 Lois Guerois-Galisson, 18 Aurelien Azar, 19 Simon Meka, 20 Romain Macurdy, 21 Baptiste Cope, 22 Santiago Arata, 23 Julien Dumora.