Comeback wins show character of Saints’ group, says Dowson

Phil Dowson was impressed by his side’s heart and character as Northampton Saints overturned a five-point deficit to defeat Gloucester Rugby 29-31 on Saturday, sealing their second comeback win in as many weeks and a fifth victory in a row. 

The result – which saw Saints secure the try bonus-point in the first half thanks to a brace from Curtis Langdon and scores from Alex Mitchell and Alex Coles – is the seventh match this season Saints have won by less than a score, and followed last weekend’s nail-biting triumph over Toulon.

Saints led 24-14 at half-time but found themselves five points adrift with less than 15 minutes to play; and though Saints went back ahead when Fin Smith converted Tom Litchfield’s superb try, many supporters will have watched the game’s final minutes from behind their hands as Adam Hastings stepped up to take an 81st minute penalty that would win the match for Gloucester. 

But the fly-half left his kick short of the mark, and the high-octane encounter ended with the scoreboard still swung in Saints’ favour to seal their fifth consecutive win in all competitions. 

“Maybe too exciting!” said Dowson of Saints’ recent run of matches. “I thought we made a lot of errors; we weren’t quite good enough in certain aspects of our game. 

“We came out well in the first half. We knew Gloucester were going to come out roaring in front of a full house [at Kingsholm]. Despite their recent run of results, they’re a very good team and so we were expecting them to come out flying. 

“I thought we started really well but as the half wore on, we conceded in injury time in that first half and also got a yellow card and that really swings the momentum. Then they came out in the second half and built on that momentum, we didn’t.”

It was that yellow card period – where Saints were without Rory Hutchinson as he was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle – that was the most costly for Northampton as Gloucester sent both Chris Harris and Matias Alemanno over. 

And it was Saints’ ill-discipline that Dowson was most frustrated with, ruing Northampton’s penalty count that allowed Gloucester back into the match and the opportunity to win it at the death. 

He said: “If we’d lost that game to that kick, we’d very much be talking now about the discipline issues we had in that game, both at scrum time and not rolling away at the breakdown.

“The last penalty which gave them the opportunity was because we were offside having looked really comfortable in our defensive shape all game. If you give away that many penalties – I think our count was about 17 – then you’re going to be under a huge amount of pressure.

“But we stuck in it and came back from behind and that speaks volumes about the character of the people in the group and the group itself.

“We weren’t there [against Gloucester] though. That comes down to personal prep, our training standards, how we recover. All those small things that have an impact on how we play during the week. We weren’t quite there this week, but we’ve got to make sure we are next week for Sale.” 

One positive for Dowson, though, was the performance of 21-year-old Litchfield, who stepped in at wing for Saints while four Northampton wingers – in George Hendy, James Ramm, Tom Seabrook and Ollie Sleightholme – remain on the injury list. 

And the Saints Academy graduate (ordinarily a centre) concluded his first-ever senior start in that position with the match-winning try – something Dowson was full of praise for the young back for. 

“He finished his try really well,” said Dowson. “Litch has played on the wing for us before during matches, but he hasn’t played there for a while, so it’s been a bit of a crash course this week.

“Working on his backfield coverage, dealing with the high balls that we knew Gloucester were going to throw up. And for the most part, I thought Litchy was excellent and really covered all those bases.”

Saints’ supporters travelled in their droves to a sold-out Kingsholm and Dowson commended the support of both those who made the trip to Gloucester and those back home, crediting Northampton’s excellent run of form in part to their unwavering backing.  

He said: “The momentum of this run is built by the momentum of that support. I think people are really getting behind us in the town. You can see the numbers that travelled to Gloucester, it’s fantastic. The players really appreciate that, and they know how much it means.”

Saints rose to third in the Gallagher Premiership table after Saturday’s match but their attentions will turn to Sale Sharks after the festive period, as the second-place side – just one league point ahead of Dowson’s men – makes the trip to cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday 30 December (kick-off: 3.05pm).