Dowson feels Ealing were 'far more up for it' than 'humbled' Saints

The Championship team claimed an impressive 43-26 Premiership Rugby Cup quarter-final win at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens, with former Saints wing Tom Collins scoring twice.

No.8 Iakopo Mapu was sent off a minute into the second half, with Saints 29-19 down at that point.

And Ealing pushed on to set up a semi-final trip to Exeter Chiefs next Saturday.

For Saints, it was a sobering day.

And Dowson said: "Credit to Ealing. We knew they were going to be a handful and a very talented side, and they were that. They dominated us really from start to finish.

"We're going to have to go through and have a really good look at our training week, our preparation, our selection, our attitude as we went into the game because actually they looked like they were far more up for it than we were, which is a huge shame because we felt we'd set the tone during the week in terms of the opportunity to play in a quarter-final, the opportunity to play in a semi-final and also the threat Ealing have.

"Clearly we didn't get that message over to the playing group because the actions on the pitch didn't reflect it.

"There was a lack of everything and all those things bleed into one. There was a lack of intensity, a lack of urgency, a lack of skill level, a lack of decision making, a lack of leadership, and that sits with me.

"We've got to make sure we learn, we rue the mistakes from today and that we're better next time.

"Ealing were bang up for it and credit to them because they wanted to come here and prove a point - and they proved that point with an exclamation mark.

"We've been humbled."

One of the only positives from the day for Saints was the long-awaited return to action of Burger Odendaal.

The South African centre came off the bench during the second half to make his first appearance since suffering a knee injury in last season's Gallagher Premiership final.

But Dowson was frustrated that Saints couldn't make it a happy comeback for Odendaal.

"I'm disappointed because we talked about this tournament being an opportunity for Burger to come back in and play after he'd worked his socks off for eight and a half months after that final to get back fit," Dowson said.

"To come into that game when the game's gone, we're down to 14 and we're playing poorly is not reflective of what Burger deserves."

Saints now face back-to-back weekends without a game before returning to Premiership action at home to Leicester Tigers on March 21.

And when asked how Saints will spend the time between now and then, Dowson said: "We're going to train very, very hard and we're going to work on our game and how we apply ourselves before, during and after games.

"We're going to make sure the opportunity we missed today isn't repeated in the run-in."

Could Saints look to organise a friendly fixture to fill the gap in the schedule?

"There's a possibility," Dowson said.

"We'll sit down as a coaching group and we had some contingency plans, but none of that was finalised.

"We'll have a little think about how we manage it."