Dowson discusses squad selection ahead of Saints' trip to South Africa

The black, green and gold fly out to South Africa tonight (Monday) and there have been no thoughts about putting this Investec Champions Cup clash on the back-burner ahead of a big Gallagher Premiership battle at Saracens eight days later.

Saints are desperate to back up last weekend's bonus-point 38-8 European victory against Castres as they look to further their chances of progressing from the pool stages.

And at Monday afternoon's media session before boarding the team bus to the airport, Dowson said: "We always go full strength as much as we can.

"We look round the corner and we see those (Premiership) games, but we're also conscious that we've got to start putting performances together.

"This is a game we're excited about and we'll go as strong as possible."

He added: "We take 30, 31 players and I obviously feel for the lads who aren't coming - it's a frustration for them to be left out of such an exciting trip.

"It's a good chance for us to spend some time together and we're a very connected group, very tight so it should be good fun and we hope to get lots out of it."

Saints know they will face a tough test against a Bulls side with a formidable home record at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.

"They're an exciting side and their home record is excellent so it's a really big challenge for us," Dowson said.

"The journey, the altitude, the fact they've got 17 Springboks in their squad - it's a great challenge for us and we're very excited."

Glasgow Warriors, who Saints beat in the pool stages of last season's Champions Cup, have shown the way though, as they beat the Bulls 21-16 in last season's United Rugby Championship final in Pretoria.

The Warriors came back from 13-0 down to claim a stunning win in front of a sell-out crowd of 52,000 at Loftus Versfeld.

"We've got a lot of respect for Glasgow," Dowson said when asked whether Saints can take inspiration from the Scottish side's success. "We played them last year and we know how dangerous they can be.

"We've got to make sure we take our game. We can't just take Glasgow's blueprint but lots of elements of their game we think are relevant and we're hoping we can take those forward."