Dowson delighted with Saints' ruthless first-half display against Sale

The black, green and gold delivered a first-half blitz, flying into a 40-10 half-time lead before seeing the game out to secure a seven-try 47-17 Gallagher Premiership success.

It was the perfect way to bounce back from the 24-8 loss at Leicester Tigers six days earlier, when Saints saw so many chances slip through their grasp.

And Dowson said: "I was delighted with the first half, the second half was pretty frustrating. It was a 7-7 draw in the second half.

"In the first half, we capitalised on a lot of errors and managed to convert some of the opportunities we missed last week.

"We gave a penalty away and conceded first again - it's been the same in the last three games so that's something we need to have a look at.

"But one of the good things is that we reacted to that and got straight back in the game so that's a positive sign.

"We did better at converting the pressure this week, which was very pleasing."

Dowson added: "We spoke this week about making the pitch big, and we did that.

"We got urgency to get set and get into our shape quicker - all those things we trained came to fruition.

"The bounce of the ball probably aided us but you've got to be in the right space to get those.

"We want to play fast - there's no secret there - and we managed to do that, which we didn't at Leicester, where we didn't put any scoreboard pressure on them."

Tommy Freeman was named man of the match after a sparkling showing at centre.

And Dowson said: "He was brilliant.

"Playing in the centre, he gets more access to the ball and more time on it.

"He's played full-back, on the wing and at centre and the more he touches the ball, the better for us.

"Whatever number's on his back is not a massive worry."

Henry Pollock made his first Premiership start for Saints, showing his class at No.8.

"He's had a little bit of time off the bench against Quins, got a lot of time off the bench last week and this week he got his first start," Dowson said. "I thought he was outstanding.

"We've got to be careful not to talk him up too much but he's the sort of character who relishes a challenge.

"He wants to go and measure himself against the calibre of players like the Curry brothers and he would have learned a lot from the game.

"He's got the ability to make plays that are really noticeable."