NINE days ago Saints were agonisingly close to slaying the mighty Munster, six days later they were slumping to defeat against the Scarlets.
What a difference a week makes in rugby. And Tom Wood is hoping that phrase rings true as his team aim to bounce back in the best possible style this weekend.
Because coming to Northampton this Saturday are a Saracens side who won the Premiership last season and who have started this season in slick fashion.
They’ve won seven of their eight league games so far in this campaign, with the only loss coming against Wasps on the opening day.
And Wood knows Saints will have to show much more ability than they did on Friday when Scarlets upset the Franklin’s Gardens faithful with a fine 28-23 win.
But the England star is adamant his side will undergo a major transformation this week as they aim to bounce back from their second defeat in as many Heineken Cup games.
“Rugby’s one of those sports where you can put it right next week” said Wood. “As bad as you are one week you can put it right next week.
“As good as we were last week, we were terrible on Friday so we can turn it round quickly and we’ve got to set about doing that.
“We’ve got a little bit more rest this week, we had a longer weekend and a bit of time to reflect, recover and we’ve got to get our act together for this week because they don’t get any easier.
“We’ve got Saracens and we’ve got a very difficult run of games so they’ll be no feeling sorry for ourselves. We’ve got to get ourselves back on the horse this week.”
So just what was wrong with the Saints on Friday night? What made the team that looked like world beaters at Thomond Park look more like a bunch of carpet beaters at the Gardens?
Wood attempted to explain but he refused to make excuses for his side, instead choosing to say sorry to the Saints fans who turned out in force.
“(There were) not a lot of positives to be honest,” said the 25-year-old. “I can only really apologise for the performance out there. We know we’re a better team than that and we’ve massively underachieved at home in front of our own fans. No excuses really.
And he added: “Just about everything (went wrong). I don’t think anybody caught a ball, it was a bit greasy underfoot but it was the same for both teams and I think they played the conditions a lot better than us.
“It was deceptively greasy. I don’t think we prepared or were aware of that as we should have been before the game, and didn’t adapt quickly enough on the field. But, like I say, there’s no excuses.
“It’s a collective thing, there’s no individual to blame. We just didn’t get a grip on the game. They came, they were up for it and although I felt our set piece was dominant in a lot of areas we didn’t make it count.
“We didn’t get any phases going and when we did the balls were going behind us and the boys were having to go back and it’s very difficult to get any momentum like that. I don’t know what to say to be honest.”