Phil Dowson’s young Northampton Saints side have plenty to work on following an ‘ugly’ opening match of the 2026/27 season, where they were defeated 96-42 by a strong Saracens outfit in the first round of the PREM Rugby Cup.
Northampton had fielded a side with an average age of just 21.9 and found themselves with a steep challenge ahead, up against a Saracens side that boasted over 800 appearances between them.
Despite that, the young Saints produced an impressive opening 40 minutes and went into the break nine points ahead of their hosts with a bonus point already in the bag – thanks to tries from James Bennett, Josh Taylor, James Pater and 17-year-old Will Catley.
But Saracens rallied to score seven unanswered tries in the game’s third quarter, putting the match out of Saints’ reach even with a consolation effort from Hugh Shields and Bennett’s second.
“I thought we were very good in the first half,” said Dowson after the match.
“We really got stuck into it and I was very pleased with that because a lot of things we trained and practiced we saw in that first half.
“But the first 10 minutes after half-time were ugly, we conceded four in that period of time.
“There’s no lack of quality in the playing group and how we’ve trained but it’s about that consistency and ability to deal with it when the intensity goes up.”
All of Saints’ try-scorers at the StoneX Stadium were under the age of 25, and Dowson knows that while the result was a disappointing one for the group, it will prove invaluable in teaching this young squad lessons that will serve them well as Saints’ title-defence Gallagher PREM season gets underway in a few weeks’ time.
Dowson said: “You have to say congratulations for the first-half effort and then you say the game isn’t anything different to that but it has to be consistent.
“You have to continue to do those things otherwise you get punished – and you get punished heavily.
“We’ve been punished heavily in the second half at Saracens and we’ve taken a hiding. Sometimes you have those and sometimes they’re really healthy.
“There’s so much for us to learn there and take from it as a first hit-out, and certainly as a coaching group we’ll sit and look at that very carefully to make sure this young group of players will be better for it.”
Saints must dust themselves off quickly, as they prepare to face Harlequins on the road in Round 2 of the Cup next Saturday (12 September, kick-off: 4.45pm).
And as preparations gear up towards the start of that PREM campaign, where Newcastle Red Bulls are the visitors to Franklin’s Gardens on Friday 25 September (kick-off: 7.45pm), Dowson comments on integrating some senior faces for next week’s clash with Quins.
“We’ll work that out as we go along,” he said.
“We’ve got to make sure we get the minutes right to stay as fresh as possible for as long as possible.
“Tournaments aren’t won in game one. But we’ve got to make sure we treat it appropriately and we get people the right amount of game time over the next couple of weeks.”