Phil Dowson focused on 'ludicrous stat' ahead of Bath clash

Phil Dowson admits that he wants his Northampton Saints side to finish the season as “top dog” going into the play-offs ahead of the visit of Bath to a sold-out Franklin’s Gardens for their top-of-the-table Gallagher PREM clash on Saturday evening.

Saints are a point ahead of the reigning PREM champions with five games to go, and Dowson says that even though the top two were the aim at the start of the season, they would now love to send out a message by finishing top of the tree.

He points out that, from a statistical standpoint, the best way to reach a second PREM final in three years is to finish in the top two rather than third or fourth, which would mean an away semi-final.

“I think we value it from a competitive point of view. I would much rather be in first place than second place. But fundamentally, if you strip it back to what we wanted to achieve at the start of the year, it was was to finish in the top two to qualify for a home semi-final.

“That’s, statistically, one of the best ways to get to a final, to finish in the top two, and there’s a ludicrous stat, I want to say, of the 28 semi-finals, there’s only been six fixtures that have been one away from home.

Fixture

Gallagher Premiership

Northampton

09:30

25 Apr 26

Bath

All Stats and Data

“So to be in the top two is the important thing. Of course, we want to be top dog, and I’m sure Bath would say the same. We want to be in the top two, and as a competitive person, yeah, you want to be number one,” he said.

It was only two weeks ago that Bath came back from 21 points down to beat Saints 43-41 in a classic Investec Champions Cup quarter-final at the Rec and Dowson isn’t going to read too much into that result.

“I don’t think we’re going to rate ourselves on a 20-minute or a 40-minute spell. We’re going to rate ourselves on a season-long effort, and we’ll look at the end of that and decide how we did and what we need to be better at the following year.

“I don’t think we need to judge ourselves or prove anything. I think we’ve done enough this year to show that we’re capable, but how consistent can we be in those elements of our game,” he added.