Magic of Cup alive for Dowson ahead of Leinster rematch

The ‘magic’ of the Investec Champions Cup remains very much alive for Northampton Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson – who believes last season’s loss to Leinster could stand them in good stead ahead of Saturday’s semi-final showdown.

For a second season running, the men in Black Green and Gold have progressed to the last four stage, where they will face familiar foes, hoping to avenge the 20-17 defeat to the Irish province at Croke Park this time last year.

This time Aviva Stadium is the venue for the ‘rematch’, as Saints go in search of a first Champions Cup final since 2011 and Leinster bid to reach a sixth final in eight seasons.

“We learned a lot [in Dublin last year] and that helped us when it came to the semi-final and the final of the Premiership a month later," said Dowson. “We learned a lot about dealing with pressure of playing big games against good sides, how you start games.

“There were loads that came out of it from a technical and tactical point of view, but really, more from how you deal with the pressure of big games and how you make sure you’re set.

“It’s not as simple as just recreating that but at the same time looking back it was a good experience.

“That experience in Croke Park and having been a little bit frustrated in how we started has been a good driver for us this season. We want to have another go at that sort of game. We want to have another test of that magnitude and that’s up this weekend.”

Since a winless Champions Cup run in 2022/23, Saints went gone on to win 11 of their next 13 games in the competition, defeating Munster three times along the way, becoming the first English club team to win at Loftus Versfeld when Vodacom Bulls were defeated, a famous success in Glasgow and five victories against Top 14 outfits.

Saints are flying the flag as the only Gallagher Premiership club still in the competition – with Dowson emphasising its importance in the club’s list of priorities.

He said: “I think you can see how we have applied ourselves in this competition and gone after it in the last two seasons, how much it means.

“The Club has a relatively good history in it, the fact that we won in 2000 with Pat Lam and Paul Grayson et al. We got to the final in 2011 and had some good Cup runs in that period of time.

“It’s special because every year you play the same sides in the league more or less, you go to The Rec, to Saracens, you go to Kingston Park whereas we don’t often get the opportunity to go to Pretoria for example – there are lads who had never flown outside of Europe, playing against the Bulls.

“We hadn’t played Stade Francais for years and years, to go and challenge ourselves against a French side in Paris and experience Paris together.

“So, I think that uniqueness, playing against some of the biggest and best sides in world rugby is a great challenge, and it’s something that as a playing group we want to pit ourselves against some of those groups. That’s why the Champions Cup has that certain magic."