Director of Rugby Phil Dowson was delighted with Northampton Saints’ relentless sharpness against Sale Sharks, with his side’s seven tries seeing a convincing 47-21 victory in their final home clash of 2025.
Saints scooped up the bonus point try before the half-time whistle as the men in Black, Green and Gold came away with a dominant win in Round 7 of the Gallagher PREM – having sent Henry Pollock, Toby Thame, George Hendy and Josh Kemeny over before the break.
Sharks fought back in the second period, closing the gap to twelve points with 20 minutes left to play; but Saints weren’t finished and a second from Hendy as well as George Furbank’s effort and late score from Tom Pearson saw Saints take home the full quota of league points.
“I’m delighted with the result,” said Dowson. “I felt the last two weeks we’ve looked very sharp, and in particular today, in the first half, I thought we were excellent.
“Sale are a very good side have got some very established threats, and I think we dealt with that well. Our set piece and scrum in particular were excellent.
It was a particularly impressive performance from Saints’ back row, with a Pollock Christmas special opening up the scoring in the first five minutes, before a try of the season contender from Kemeny put Northampton 26-7 ahead at half-time.
And it was the back row who rounded off proceedings at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens too, when Pearson’s breakthrough try at the death was assisted by a deft tip on from replacement No. 8 Callum Chick.
“The back row in particular was outstanding,” Dowson continued.
“The speed of all three of them was brilliant, and Callum Chick, when he came on, was very good.
“Kemeny’s try was outrageous; I certainly got out of my seat for that one. I’m so pleased for him; he showed such great athleticism to finish that.
And Saints’ Director of Rugby was also full of praise for his starting half-back pairing of Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith.
Dowson added: “Alex Mitchell is outrageous, certainly one of the best scrum-halves in the world at the moment.
“He creates space like no other, especially for our back row, and I would have loved to play with him myself.
“When you get him and Fin working together like that, they control the game so well, and it’s special to see. They’re both playing very well at the moment.”
Victory at home leaves Saints second in the PREM table as things stand, behind leaders Exeter Chiefs on points difference alone.
And with one more fixture to see out 2025, Dowson is relishing a trip to last year’s PREM champions Bath Rugby at the Recreation Ground next Saturday (27 December, kick-off: 5.30pm).
“Bath will be enormous next week,” Dowson continued.
“Obviously, they’ve made some changes this weekend, so we’ve got to be ready for a full attritional affair next weekend down at the Rec.
“They’re playing very well at the moment, and are obviously title holders, so it will be a tough challenge, but games away from home often bring out the best in us, and I’m excited to see how we go.
“It’s Christmas first, though, and what a great occasion here at cinch Stadium for our festive fixture. It was a really good atmosphere, and I’m looking forward to a couple of days off before travelling to Bath.”