Dowson delivers Dingwall update after Saints centre is stretchered off

Dingwall received lengthy treatment two minutes before the break after making a tackle on Alex Dombrandt and then colliding with the knee of Tommy Freeman on the way down.

The England centre was placed in a neck brace and carried from the field on a stretcher, with the sell-out crowd at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens giving the skipper a warm ovation on a freezing night.

After the game, Dowson said: “Fraser Dingwall took a horrible knock but luckily he's up and about and in relatively good spirits, other than being disappointed."

Dowson added: “He’s good. He’s up and about. Obviously he’s a bit shaken up because he was unconscious for a bit, but obviously the medics were around him fast and looking after him so he’s gone through the right procedure.

"We haven’t got any timelines (on when he’ll be back). We’ll just make sure he’s okay, look after him tonight and make sure he’s got people around him.”

Saints went on to secure a convincing 66-21 Gallagher PREM victory, earning a fifth successive bonus-point win in all competitions.

Alex Coles scored a hat-trick as the black, green and gold notched 10 tries on the night.

And Dowson said: “It was really satisfying, bringing guys back from a break, getting back into a really solid training week and obviously we knew that Quins were going to come and throw the kitchen sink at us and get stuck in. We sort of weathered that early storm, I think.

“There were some things in the first half we were a bit disappointed with, but again it's that continuity, consistency and cohesion that we aim to try to get through our training.

"I thought we did some really good things in attack.

"Defensively, we were a bit shoddy at times and (Saints defence coach) Lee Radford was getting a bit irate with some of that in the first half, but I think we rectified that in the second half.”