SALE Sharks' Guinness Premiership play-off hopes were called into question as they crashed to a third successive league defeat.
A depleted Sale side, hit by a combination of Six Nations call-ups and serious injuries, had travelled to Franklin's Gardens in search of morale-boosting win to arrest their worrying slide in fortunes.
Instead, they were simply blown away by a rampant Saints side to leave a huge doubt hanging over their hopes of securing a top four finish to the season.
And as if things couldn't get any worse, Sale suffered five more crippling injuries to boot.
To add insult to those injuries, Northampton were inspired by a superb individual display by former Sale favourite Ben Foden, who controversially left Edgeley Park last summer.
Part of the England international's reasons for leaving was a desire to play at number nine rather than, as Sale saw him, as a full-back.
So it must have been particularly galling for Sharks director of rugby Kingsley Jones to see Foden, who scored a fine individual second-half try, cutting a swathe almost at will through the Sharks' defensive ranks from full-back.
In effect, the game was as good as over for a shell-shocked Sale by half-time, with Paul Diggin's try on 29 minutes coming on top of 14 points from the steady boot of Saints fly-half Barry Everitt with the Sharks being punished to the full for a collective lack of discipline as Northampton went in 19-3 up.
Injuries
The only reply sorry Sale could muster in that torrid opening half was a Charlie Hodgson drop goal.
On top of that the Sharks, who saw hooker Marc Jones injured in the warm-up, then lost centre Chris Bell, second row stalwart Dean Schofield - when poised to link-up with Hodgson to score a try - and, most crucially of all, scrum-half Chris Leck to injuries in the opening 40 minutes.
Leck's withdrawal left rookie number Will Cliff, who himself has only just returned to action after a serious facial injury, as the only fit scrum-half left on Sale's books.
And with the Sharks down to the bare bones, full-back Rory Lamont hobbling off after 43 minutes and winger David Doherty in the sin-bin, Northampton laid virtual siege to their half after the break.
So it was no surprise when that man Foden steamed in under the posts for a 57th minute try, converted by Stephen Myler.
And as Sale's resistance crumbled, Northampton number eight Roger Wilson crossed on 75 minutes before Hodgson then joined the walking wounded with an ankle injury.
Just to set the seal on an afternoon of sheer misery for the men in white, James Downey then collected a bonus point for the Saints, scoring their fourth try with less than five seconds left on the clock.
But by then, Sale were already out for the collective count.
NORTHAMPTON: Foden; Diggin; Ansbro; Downey;Reihana; Everitt; Dickson; Tonga'uiha; Sharman; Stewart; Ignacio Lobbe; Kruger; Lawes; Best; Wilson
SALE SHARKS: Lamont; Kuadey; Bell; Keil; Doherty; Hodgson; Leck; O'Donnell; Briggs; Roberts; Schofield; Cockbain; Fearns; C. Jones; Juan Lobbe
Ref: Dean Richards (RFU)
Att: 13,250
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Get a grip sale you was 4th place and are loseing to chums,sport it out your embarrasing.
Injuries, international call ups etc are all valid reasons for performing below the usual standard but to lose by such a margin to a mediocre team suggests something else. 3 consecutive defeats to teams below us in the league and the additional statistic that we are the lowest scorers in the top 8 suggest that there may be the beginnings of a real crisis for Sale.
Sale deliberately fielded weakended teams in the Anglo-Welsh cup to both give the senior players a rest and to give the younger players more experience. The idea was that it was worth sacrificing one cup to ensure progress in the Heinekin Cup and the Premiership whilst increasing the resilience through the squad.
It hasn't worked.
The Heinekin Cup found us wanting by some significant margin and it is clear that without our "big guns" we cannot compete with the mediocre teams in the Premiership. Worst of all it is becoming clear that the trickle of players leaving the club appears to becoming a mass exodus. I would not bet on Lobbe signing a new contract with Sale and I am also pretty sure that he won't be the last to go after Chabal, Bruno, Faure, White, Lamont and McAllister.
It may be that this run of results is just a blip and that Sale will return to winning ways once the 6 Nations is ended - but I don't think so. I hope I am wrong but I predict a rocky path ahead.