‘Optimistic’ second-half approach paid off, says Dowson

Director of rugby Phil Dowson pinpointed an ‘optimistic’ second-half approach and the impact of the bench as being key to Northampton Saints closing 2023 with a battling 21-17 victory over Sale Sharks.

Saints looked destined to sign off the year with a loss when George Ford hit a drop-goal on the hour mark which pulled Sharks ten points clear..

But Alex Mitchell’s close-range snipe set up a grandstand finish that duly arrived when George Furbank’s audacious quickly-tapped penalty from close range drew a match-sealing penalty try to send Saints top of the table.

“We played some decent stuff in the second half,” said Dowson, whose side trailed 7-0 at the break courtesy of Joe Carpenter’s try. “We drove the pace and put a bit more of our game on the pitch.

“Sale are a good side, they shut us down in the first half and we didn’t convert any of our pressure. They had one opportunity and they did score it, and that is what gave them the ascendancy at half-time. Fair play to the squad in the last 20 minutes, really turning it on.

“I actually said at half-time that was okay. It was absolutely okay, it was nothing we hadn’t practiced. We were in a kicking game, playing into a breeze. We did lots of good things, we made a few errors but that is going to happen. The coaching group were in no way worried, upset or disappointed.

“We just knew that we had a bit more and against good groups, you sometimes have to wear them down. 

“In the second half we tried to play quicker and be a little more optimistic in terms of how we wanted to play. We played no nonsense in the first half and we played at a slower pace than normal.

“In the second half we had a bit more of a crack at it. A team like Sale are one of the best defensive sides in the league, if not the best statistically, you’re going to have to wear them down.”

Luke Cowan-Dickie forced his way over early into the second half, with Ford converting to open a 14-point lead that was cut when Furbank glided over for Saints in the 53rd minute.

The front row replacements of Curtis Langdon, Paul Hill and Tarek Haffar were hugely influential in wrestling back momentum while the likes of Alex Moon, Courtney Lawes and Sam Graham all also made a big impact from the bench to swing momentum back Saints’ way.

“I thought the whole bench coming on had an impact,” added Dowson. “They don’t make an impact by doing anything out of the ordinary, or anything extraordinary, they just had to bring energy, drive us a bit more and they increased the speed again.

“To have someone like Curtis come on who wants to get stuck in, who has got an edge, who is desperate to play, that is tangible, it resonates throughout the squad.”

The players were cheered on by a sell-out crowd who witnessed the Saints march to a sixth successive win to set up the prospect of entering 2024 top of the table both domestically and in Europe if Bath fail to defeat Leicester Tigers on Sunday.

“We had a cracking atmosphere,” said Dowson. “There were periods in the game when we were up and down, under pressure or got the momentum, when you hear the crowd start singing and trying to lift us up or are celebrating.

“The noise was fantastic. That is really, really tangible. It breaks up play when the players hear that, it provides so much energy. It is what you want to be a part of; a full house, with a decent game of rugby on just before new year, and everyone in the ground celebrating, enjoying and getting stuck in.”