Untold joy sprinkled with a dose of relief were Phil Dowson’s overriding emotions after guiding Northampton Saints to Gallagher Premiership glory.
Following Saturday's 25-21 success over Bath Rugby, Dowson became the first Saintsman to win the English top flight as both a player and a director of rugby and is amongst just a handful of people to achieve the feat across the competition’s history.
Despite playing a little under an hour of the match with an extra player following Beno Obano’s dismissal, the men in Black, Green and Gold were made to scrap for the victory with Alex Mitchell’s late try proving to be the game-deciding score.
“In terms of the match it was frustrating to a degree and tense – we probably didn’t play as well as we would have liked to in a Final,” Dowson.
“I thought Bath were excellent in executing their gameplan. When they went down to 14 men it galvanised them, they went hard at the breakdown, they put us under tons of pressure and we couldn’t get any flow.
“From an emotional point of view, this whole year we started pre-season on 19 June to get to this point and to scrape through in the last five minutes is both a huge joy really and a bit of a relief.”
Phil Dowson
Saints were 15-10 ahead at the break with Tommy Freeman and Ollie Sleightholme landing tries and Fin Smith kicking one conversion and a drop goal. Bath remained within striking distance through Thomas du Toit’s five-pointer and two successful Finn Russell kicks.
Bath entered the final 15 minutes ahead courtesy of Will Muir’s try and two more Russell kicks, but Saints weren’t to be denied as George Hendy weaved his magic down the right wing and offloaded for Mitchell to finish off the move.
“It was on a knife edge with 60 minutes gone and as a coaching group, we were scratching our heads because all the momentum was Bath,” said Dowson.
“Credit to a Bath side who go down to 14 men after 20 minutes and that actually galvanises their effort.
“Johann van Graan has talked all season about how good their group is – and you saw that today.
“With 10 minutes to go, we got a little bit of magic from George Hendy and we went up a gear. We managed to get a bit of momentum and we managed to get some ball out of the breakdown and that just about got us over the line.”
Poetry from @SaintsRugby for the first try of the final 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Ttn3Y45naM
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) June 8, 2024
Victory in London meant a number of long-serving Saints signed off in glorious fashion, including Courtney Lawes who lifted the trophy alongside Lewis Ludlam.
Dowson added: “Loads has been written about his playing ability, and the way he’s evolved in the game, going second row to back row, his turnover ability, carrying the ball. He’s always had the ability to cut people in half and lineout ability. Courts has had the desire and mentality to get better.
“But more importantly this year is how much he’s added to the group. We’ve got a young group, there’s no hiding that. His presence and the confidence is really obvious through the group in games like today, games like last week or at Croke Park.
“Courts has been there and done that on the biggest stages. Players look to him and that is something that is intangible. That has a huge impact on the players around the group. He has allowed them to grow.”