Northampton Saints Director of Rugby Phil Dowson expressed his pride in his side’s effort to secure a home Round of 16 tie following their 43-28 victory over Scarlets in the Investec Champions Cup.
In front of a sold-out cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, the men in Black, Green and Gold battled their way to a bonus-point victory against their Welsh visitors, securing themselves the all-important home advantage when the competition’s knock-out stages commence, with Castres Olympique confirmed as Saints’ opponents on the weekend of 3/4/5 April.
“I think it was one of those days where we couldn’t quite get everything right,” said Dowson.
“But we got the result, and it’s given us enough to qualify for a home Round of 16.
“Obviously, we want to be top of the group and win everything, but to be seeded fifth out of all of those teams in the tournament is a credit to this group.
A first-half hat-trick from electric 19-year-old winger Edoardo Todaro took Saints into the break with a narrow lead. But Scarlets refused to fade away and pushed Dowson’s men, closing the gap to five points with seven minutes left to play in the match, before Saints’ fears of relinquishing their lead were quashed through Anthony Belleau’s penalty and Callum Chick’s stoppage time try.
“It wasn’t a vintage performance,” Dowson continued. “We need to give credit to Scarlets on that front with how well they played and how they came and got stuck into us.
“Scarlets have always scored a lot of points, but I was impressed with their defence. We exerted quite a lot of pressure, but they dealt with it, and they put enough pressure on us to cause errors.
“But credit to the scrum for getting us a foothold in the game after last week, the regroup and the effort in that was outstanding.
“We did enough, and we’ll look at that performance and make sure we’re better for it next time.”
Sunday’s clash at cinch Stadium marked the club’s sixth sell-out of the season so far, and with another home fixture now secured for the knockout stages of the competition, Dowson was full of praise for the Saints’ faithful.
He said: “The atmosphere at home makes a huge difference, and it’s always a good atmosphere here when it’s a sell-out, and the players appreciate that.”