Saints determined to enjoy week together ahead of Final, says Dowson

Northampton Saints squad are determined to enjoy one more week together as they prepare for this weekend’s Gallagher Premiership Final against Bath. 

That is the view of Director of Rugby Phil Dowson following his side’s epic semi-final success over Saracens last Friday to earn a place in a Twickenham Stadium winner-takes-all showdown for the first time in a decade on Saturday.

The 22-20 victory at a sold-out cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens also meant the likes of Courtney Lawes, Lewis Ludlam, Alex Waller, Alex Moon and many others extended their Saints careers by another week before heading off to pastures new this summer or into rugby playing retirement.

“It was interesting that the first thing Courtney said afterwards in the huddle [after Saracens] was, that’s great but we’re onto the next one,” Dowson said. “The nature of the beast is, you win the semi-final, you have got something to look forward to this week. 

“One of the things we have spoken about is having another week together.

Saints finished top of the table at the end of the regular season and also progressed to the semi-finals of the Investec Champions Cup, where they lost narrowly to Leinster before an all-time competition-record crowd of 82,300 at Croke Park.

While acknowledging it is a monumental week for the Club, Dowson pointed out that he and his coaching team would be sticking to the things that have worked all season and delivered them a date with destiny.

“For an away game, we wouldn’t normally travel to the stadium and do some bits and pieces there but we will this week, so maybe that’s a little bit different,” he said.

“From an emotional and tactical point of view, it will be pretty similar. We will stick to that routine that has got us to this point and to that gameplan that we have built some belief around.”

With Saints triumphing against Saracens and Bath defeating Sale Sharks, a repeat of the 2022/23 final did not occur and instead it ensured the top two teams in the table – who finished level on 60 points – would meet in the capital this weekend.

“I would’ve been fairly excited regardless of who we played,” added Dowson. “I think having the quality and calibre of players they have, Finn Russell for example is box office, that generates loads of interest from fans, and the media.

“Bath is a very well-supported club and I think that is good. At Northampton, we are really lucky to have a really fanatical supporter base. From what I gather, it is sold out. The fact they are well supported, the fact they have got world-class calibre [players], they are the things we want to challenge ourselves against. 

“There’s clearly elements of our game we need to get right in regards to Bath, but there’s also the fact you’re playing in a Final and managing that anticipation, nervousness, pressure, all those sorts of elements are part of it.

“That is something we have talked about, but also having had experience of playing at Twickenham earlier this season against Quins, when we didn’t quite get it right, playing against Leinster at Croke Park, playing Sarries here. We have had that experience of pressure knock-out games which we hope stands us in good stead.”