Director of rugby Phil Dowson credited Northampton Saints’ belief in themselves for a remarkable turnaround on Saturday afternoon, as the men in Black, Green and Gold recovered from a 26-point deficit to beat Exeter Chiefs 42-36.
Within 25 minutes, the away side found themselves well adrift after two tries from Jacques Vermeulen, and one apiece from Immaunel Feyi-Waboso and Stu Townsend.
It took until the half-hour mark for Saints to find a foothold in the game; Callum Braley dotted down, before Ollie Sleightholme scored one of his three tries, and Saints had halved the hosts’ lead at the break.
A thriller of a game continued into the second half, with George Furbank and Sleightholme seeing Saints into the lead twice before Henry Slade first answered with a penalty, then Rusi Tuima crashed over for what Exeter had hoped was a match-winning score eight minutes from time.
But Rory Hutchison was Northampton’s hero, as he dotted down with the clock in the red to give the men in Black, Green and Gold their eighth win from 11 matches in the league, and seventh in a row in all competitions.
Yesterday’s win from 26 points down was the third biggest comeback in @premrugby history.
— Northampton Saints 😇 (@SaintsRugby) January 7, 2024
📊 @Stu_Farmer pic.twitter.com/uIXlSfCVDR
Dowson was full of praise for his side after a victory which will live long in the memory.
"Exeter Chiefs score more tries in the first 10 minutes of games than any other side in the Premiership,” he said. “We had talked about that, we said we had to come out swinging, but we probably didn’t.
“We didn't deal with that energy they bring, with that blunt force that they play with, and at 26-0 down it was a mountain to climb.
“But credit to the group, the players within it, the belief they have in the system and what they're trying to do. To get two scores before half-time was really important and changed the momentum.”
Phil Dowson, Director of Rugby
“We were challenged on all fronts across the board from our set piece, to our defence, and the way we’re kicking the ball. It wasn’t right in the first half, we know that, and there’s loads of things we can do better.
“But the things you can’t measure, you can’t buy, that are really hard to coach, are things like character, heart and resilience – and they’ve been within this group for a long time.
“We've been through some hard times, here and at other places where we haven’t got those results, but those lessons and those experiences have given us the opportunity to get this one.”
60 minutes played and you see @alexmitchell97 coming off the bench 🥵
— Northampton Saints 😇 (@SaintsRugby) January 7, 2024
Outside to @olliesleights and it’s game over ❌ pic.twitter.com/4c4Hx9wuZr
Dowson opted to rotate his side to start the game, and was pleased to come away with the result while also giving several players some much-needed rest in a lengthy run of 16 straight matches across the Premiership and Champions Cup.
He added: “It’s more in the context of a really long period of games, back-to-back to back, so at some point Tom Pearson can’t play every minute of every game, Courtney Lawes can’t play every minute of every game, Alex Mitchell can’t play every minute of every game. You’d like them to because they are top quality.
“Callum Braley trains his heart out every week. He pushes the group, he trains well, he deserves the opportunity and there are loads of guys across the board who do that. Angus Scott-Young is another man who puts his body on the line every single time he plays. We trust him and you’ve got to trust the squad.
“Although we may go behind in the first half, we purposely made no changes at half-time to allow that group to go out and show what they’re capable of.”
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