A youthful and much-changed Northampton Saints side showed ‘huge heart’ in their 42-14 defeat to Exeter Chiefs.
That is the view of Director of Rugby Phil Dowson, who made 14 personnel changes from the starting side that defeated Leinster a week previously to secure a place in the Investec Champions Cup final.
Across the Sandy Park contest, six Saints players made their Gallagher Premiership debuts while others were tasked with playing out of position with Dowson managing his resources accordingly with a dozen players unavailable for selection.
“Most of the players put in an enormous amount of effort and work,” Dowson said. “They showed huge heart. Clearly there’s things we need to do better, and clearly we’re not happy with the result, but in terms of that group - they put in a huge amount of effort this week to try to get a result here.”
A first Premiership try on his maiden league start for Jake Garside saw Saints approach half-time level against their full-strength hosts. However, two tries in as many minutes saw Chiefs go in at the break 14 points ahead.
4️⃣3️⃣ A captain's try.@tomlockett12 stretches over after a quick pen.
— Northampton Saints 😇 (@SaintsRugby) May 11, 2025
⚫ 21-14 😇 pic.twitter.com/fKCysUKjbV
Captain-for-the-day Tom Lockett landed his first league try to close the gap further shortly after the restart, but it was Rob Baxter’s men who claimed maximum points with three tries in the final quarter to add gloss to the scoreline.
“The two tries before half-time obviously hurt and then towards the end it got a bit loose and we just didn’t make them work hard enough for those scores,” added Dowson.
“There was one intercept and one linebreak and then the game is a two-score game, 21-7 at half-time and they’ve got a bit more momentum so it becomes tricky."
“Lots of those guys have been playing for their loan clubs - at Bedford in particular - and they’ve been showing what they’re capable of.
“I was delighted that for large parts, they really performed really well.”
Phil Dowson, Director of Rugby
“I’m not saying we’re satisfied with the loss and what it does to us in the league but I am saying it shows where this club’s at and sometimes we have to take those difficult experiences.”
Saints’ attentions now turn to their final home game of the 2024/25 Gallagher Premiership season, when Saracens are the visitors to cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday 17 May (kick-off: 3.05pm) – for ticket information, please click HERE.
