A sensational second-half display saw Northampton Saints secure a first Heineken Cup success of the year with a 45-0 triumph over Castres on Saturday.

Last season's beaten finalists hammered Castres Olympique at Franklin's Gardens despite leading by just three points at the break.

An incredible five try-showing in the last 18 minutes meant Saints bagged maximum points following previous defeats to Munster and the Scarlets and a 41-22 reverse in France last weekend.

Fullback Ben Foden claimed two of those scores, with Russian wing Vasily Artemyev and replacements Mike Haywood and Greig Tonks the other scorers as Northampton turned on the style in the closing stages.

Foden's first was also Saints' 62nd-minute opener while his second was a sublime individual run that began fully 15 metres inside his own half with the final play of the match.

The three tries that split Foden's double were all well-worked team scores that gave the East Midlands faithful a remainder of the kind of vibrant rugby Saints produced on the way to a second Heineken Cup Final last time out.

Stephen Myler finished with a personal tally of 20 points after kicking four penalties and the same number of conversions, while No.8 Samu Manoa picked up the Heineken Man of the Match award in just his second tournament start.

Victory sees Saints leapfrog Castres in the Pool 1 but Jim Mallinder's men are still three points behind second-place Scarlets and eight adrift of runaway leaders Munster.

Northampton Saints 45 Castres Olympique 0

Scorers:

For Northampton:

Tries: Foden 2, Artmemyev, Haywood, Tonks

Con: Myler 4

Pens: Myler 4

Yellow card: Roussel (Castres)

Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Vas Artemyev, 13 Jon Clarke, 12 James Downey, 11 Jamie Elliott, 10 Steve Myler, 9 Martin Roberts, 8 Samu Manoa, 7 Ben Nutley, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Mark Sorenson, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Paul Doran-Jones, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Waller.

Replacements: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Soane Tonga'uiha, 18 Tom Mercey, 19 James Craig, 20 James Ingle, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 Greig Tonks, 23 Scott Armstrong.

Castres Olympique: 15 Florian Denos, 14 Matthieu Nicolas, 13 Paul Bonnefond, 12 Pierre-Manuel Garcia, 11 Pierre-Gilles Lakafia, 10 Pierre Bernard, 9 Thierry Lacrampe, 8 Jannie Bornman, 7 Steve Malonga, 6 Pierre Roussel, 5 Scott Murray, 4 Matthias Rolland, 3 Rossouw Kruger, 2 Mathieu Bonello, 1 Anton Peikrishvili.

Replacements: 16 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 17 Michaël Coetzee, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 20 Ibrahim Diarra, 21 Rory Kockott, 22 Seremaia Bai, 23 Vincent Inigo.

Referee: George Clancy