Dowson delighted as Saints step up to see off Tigers in cup clash

The black, green and gold gave vital minutes to some of the lesser utilised members of the squad, including several hugely talented youngsters, and there were so many strong individual showings in the 31-12 success.

"We're delighted," Saints boss Dowson said, following the victory at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens.

"We talked all week about the opportunity this tournament offers and the fact it was a derby as well so we were delighted and loads of those players put their hands up.

"We win together and we lose together, and the players were conscious of that loss at Leicester a couple of weeks ago, but fundamentally we wanted to make sure we worked hard and got our game on the field - all those sort of cliches.

"We wanted to enjoy it and we saw a lot of that, particularly in the first half when it was very physical and we got into it.

"We all train together and we're fairly clear about what we wanted to get out of it and what our game looks like.

"We develop every single person to be able to execute that game.

"Our development pathway runs a lot through our loan clubs, particularly Bedford, to get guys game time, which is so integral and this competition gives the opportunity to put players in a Saints shirt, to put them alongside other Saints players.

"It serves lots of purposes and there's some good rugby played as well so it's important this group of players play as a team and we keep focusing on their development.

"We want to make sure all these guys are getting as much focus and coaching as everyone else and also we'll also give the other coaches the chance to step up and sit in different positions.

"We spoke during the week about Freemo (Tommy Freeman) having played eight games in the PRC and Furbs (George Furbank) having played 10 so it has a massive place in the calendar and we want to make sure we honour that and use it for the right purpose.”

When asked who stood out, Dowson said: "George Makepeace-Cubitt made his Championship debut a few weeks ago, his Prem debut last week and his first Saints start tonight and he was very, very controlled. The way he spoke during the week, the way he controlled the game was excellent.

"Tarek (Haffar) hasn't played a lot of rugby this season and he was named man of the match so that will give him a huge burst of energy and make sure he knows he's on the right track.

"It was great to see Sonny Tonga'uiha coming on and his dad (former Saints prop Soane) presented his shirt before the game, which was fantastic, so there's loads of really positive moments from that we can take moving forward."