Phil Dowson frustrated over part of Saints' game that 'didn’t go well'

Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson was frustrated by his side’s efforts as they picked up a narrow 28-27 Gallagher Prem victory over bottom club Newcastle in a compelling but disjointed contest at Franklin’s Gardens.

The bonus-point win took Saints back to the top of the table but for large parts of the game the visitors were the better side and with more accurate goal-kicking – and a couple of refereeing decisions going their way – they would surely have triumphed.

Archie McParland, Ollie Sleightholme, Curtis Langdon and Tom Litchfield scored Northampton’s tries, with Anthony Belleau successful with all four conversions.

In reply, Harrison Obatoyinbo, Ollie Leatherbarrow, Simon Benitez Cruz and Tom Christie crossed over for the away side, with Brett Connon adding two conversions and a penalty.

Dowson said: “It was very tense throughout as we couldn’t get away from them as they got stuck into us and stopped us from playing.

“The experience will be invaluable for some of the younger players but we understand now what’s coming round the corner each week for the rest of the season.

“I can’t fault the hard work of the boys but it’s frustrating as our set-piece didn’t go well.

“As a result our discipline suffered and we failed to take scoring opportunities, especially in the first part of the second half.”

Newcastle’s newly-appointed head coach Stephen Jones was delighted with his side’s efforts as they battled against their opponents.

He said: “I’m wonderfully proud of the boys and delighted with some of the rugby we played.

“We fronted up in the collisions and had good attacking threats to create a lot of opportunities.

“However we need to be technically better to finish them off and we are fully aware that we need to continue to improve.

“To pick up two yellow cards was disappointing and we need to review that in an attempt to get that out of the game but we were exceptionally smart in dealing with that sin-bin period.

“I can’t comment on some of the refereeing decisions as I’d like to see them and review them in detail.”