'A recurring theme' - Dowson discusses Saints' defeat at Munster

But he did praise his players for the way they fought back at Thomond Park on Saturday afternoon.

Saints were 24-0 down at half-time, despite the fact Munster were reduced to 14 men after 22 minutes following the dismissal of Jack O'Donoghue.

Dowson's side came out with renewed desire after the break, winning the second 40 minutes 23-3.

But it wasn't to be enough as they suffered a 27-23 defeat, their third loss in as many Heineken Champions Cup pool matches this season.

"There was loads of heart - that's never been an issue," Dowson said. "There was loads of energy - that's never been an issue either.

"Actually we played some really good rugby in the second half and I was really pleased with the group.

"First half we were poor, discipline was poor again and we conceded far too many opportunities. When they had those opportunities, we conceded far too easily.

"We conceded two tries from four phases - and that's just not good enough.

"We didn't fire any shots in that first half, and there were a lot of unforced errors.

"The discipline as well, to give them an opportunity in our 22, and when they were there, we conceded so softly - and that's not a word I would associate with this group very often.

"We need to drill down and make sure we arrest that sort of habit.

"We had to come out with more energy in the second half because if we hadn't, it would have been ugly.

"We had to score next - we talked about that at half-time - and we managed to get our game going forward, we managed to be far cleaner with our discipline and our defence was excellent in the second half, shutting them down.

"It was just too late in the game because 24 points in a half is tough to take.

"There are some positives in that second half, but that first half is a recurring theme that we need to deal with."

With two minutes to go and Saints 27-20 down, the decision was made to take a shot at goal from a penalty that could have gone to the corner.

Fin Smith slotted it, leaving Saints with 30 seconds to catch the kick-off and try to score the try that would win them the game, but it wasn't to be.

"The draw doesn't get us where we want to be in Europe," said Dowson, discussing the decision not to go for the corner.

"I appreciate we didn't win the game, but it gave us an opportunity to win the game.

"It's difficult in those situations. If we'd gone to the corner and drawn, that would have been something, but I wanted to give us a chance to go and win it."