Director of Rugby Phil Dowson stressed his pride in his young squad’s performance, despite Northampton Saints’ narrow 22-19 defeat to Harlequins on Friday evening.
The men in Black, Green and Gold led for much of the contest, taking a 14-10 lead into the sheds with them at half-time after Tom Pearson and Tarek Haffar both scored tries and George Makepeace-Cubitt added two conversions – with Cassius Cleaves and Tom Lawday replying for Quins.
Tom Seabrook stretched Saints’ advantage not long into the second half, but the hosts cut the deficit straight away through Will Joseph, and despite a Herculean defensive effort in the closing stages from Dowson’s side, Cleaves struck again with just four minutes remaining to snatch the win.
While 17 Saints were unavailable for the match due to injury and international call-ups, it was a chance for many of the Club’s young tyros to shine, and Dowson was impressed with how his side stuck to their task.
“With regards to the effort of the group, and how they applied themselves, I couldn’t be more proud of the team,” he said.
“It was delighted with how hard we worked. Clearly, there are some things we can and need to do better, but to concede so late feels cruel.”
Phil Dowson, Director of Rugby
“We need to be better defensively, there’s some things we can look at with our attack, and ways in which we can improve our management of the game in the middle third.
“I’m sure supporters get annoyed when we talk about ‘learning lessons’, but that same experience this young group just had is something that the likes of Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell and George Furbank have all gone through earlier in their careers.
“This class of players will take so much from this game, and the bitterly frustrating, heartbreaking ending most of all – those experiences stand us in good stead long term.”
Northampton brought the heat but it was Harlequins who triumphed in a physical game at The Stoop 🔥#HARNOR | #GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/IwwHSYfvEI
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) January 24, 2025
Northampton’s back-line boasted an average age of just 23.5 for the clash, but 20-year-old half-backs Archie McParland and Makepeace-Cubitt both caught the eye with some superb touches either side of the ball.
Haffar (23) carried hard and grabbed his first-ever try for Saints, while Tom Litchfield (22) was a constant threat around the park, and Tom Lockett (22) stewarded the lineout as the visitors claimed 13 out of 13 on their own throw, and stole one off Quins as well.
With the Premiership Rugby Cup now on the horizon for Northampton for the next few weeks, Dowson is looking forward to seeing more of Saints’ up-and-coming players come to the fore.
He added: “This is a group that has been training together throughout the season, they train the same way as all the other senior players in the squad – so it’s not a team that’s been thrown together and they know the way we want to play.
“However, it’s much easier doing it in training than in a high-pressure Friday night match against Quins, who are in a similar position to us in the league.
“That’s where we find out a lot about people, and how much they can apply and execute under pressure. There were definitely times in the first half where we could have turned the screw a little bit more, but Quins were desperate too to climb the table.”
Phil Dowson, Director of Rugby
“These players are their own harshest critics, so they’ll be pushing to get more game-time now and this upcoming block in the Premiership Rugby Cup will offer them that opportunity.
“The Cup gives us a new challenge, and we’re excited about that, then when we get back into the league we’ll apply ourselves and try to get stuck into a few teams.
“Other than our league position, I’m quite positive about where we are. Some of our effort and performances have been very good. Some of it hasn’t, and that’s what we’re working on.”
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