'Absolutely brilliant value' - Dowson delighted to hand Mapu his Saints debut

And the black, green and gold boss was delighted to hand the Samoa back row forward his debut on Saturday.

Mapu came off the bench in the 63rd minute as he made his first Saints appearance since joining the club last month.

And Dowson said: "It's brilliant.

"Yak has brought such great energy into the environment. He's been absolutely brilliant value.

"We were excited about getting the big Yak off the bench.

"We're delighted with how he's settled in and he'll definitely bring a lot of smiles, a lot of energy and a lot of contact."

Two players who have been at Saints for much longer than Mapu are Academy graduates Tom Litchfield and Tom Lockett.

Both players started and shone for the black, green and gold in the 38-8 Investec Champions Cup victory against Castres at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens.

"Characters like Tom Litchfield and Tom Lockett are integral to our performance moving forward and to the culture of the club," Dowson said.

"Litch has been in the environment a long time and I don't think he's played better than he has in the past two weeks. He's started to step into that and been really positive.

"These are the experiences that those players need.

"You see Craig Wright coming off the bench, you see Archie McParland coming off the bench - these are young players who have a big and bright Saints future and we're excited about them."