Dowson: Saints' win against Toulon shows what a tight group we are

The black, green and gold showed their desire and determination once again to record a fourth successive win in all competitions and a truly memorable Champions Cup triumph.

Tom Lockett's try in the final two minutes bagged the bonus point, and Saints kept their cool in the closing seconds before booting the ball out to put the seal on a 22-19 success.

It came after they lost three wingers to injury on the night, with George Hendy, Tom Seabrook and Ollie Sleightholme all forced off.

That meant centre Tom Litchfield and scrum-half Tom James finished the game on the wing, with debutant Charlie Savala at centre.

But Saints kept going and kept believing before two Toulon yellow cards in the same passage of play gave them real hope.

And Lockett made the extra numbers pay out wide, bringing a huge roar from cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens, with the fans then on their feet in delight when the final whistle was blown.

"It spoke volumes about how connected the players are, how committed they are to each other and what a tight group they are," Dowson said.

"In the second half, similar to last week in many ways, we lost some momentum and that's clearly something we're going to have to catch hold of.

"But the resilience or the grit or whatever word you want to use to describe it, to come back, to keep going, to create opportunities that lead to ill discipline gave us the opportunity.

"Credit to the guys coming off the bench: TJ playing out of position, Tom Lockett coming on, all these guys having an impact and making a difference."

So how was Dowson feeling in the closing stages of the match?

"I was marginally calmer than Sam (Vesty) but not much," Dowson said.

"You're powerless when you're sat up here so you've got to trust that what you've coached, what you've trained. The group and their character is what you back.

"The coaching group is so cohesive and so aligned with themselves and the playing group, it's clear in how we play.

"Clearly it's not perfect and we've got so much work to do and we have to understand where those performances come from, but it's really obvious that the coaches and the players are really aligned."

Courtney Lawes was named man of the match for yet another gargantuan display.

And Dowson joked: "Him being given the freedom of the town (earlier in the week) maybe helped.

"You run out of superlatives in terms of what an incredible player he is and his ability to be in the right place at the right time, his athleticism and his desire to keep going - he's second to none in that space.

"And he also, without having to say too much, is a huge pillar of confidence in that group and brings unbelievable leadership."

Replacement lock Lockett was the late hero.

And Dowson said: "I was slightly concerned his size 15s were going to go into touch, but it's a beautiful thing.

"He made his debut last week in a big win and he told me after the game that in the last two minutes he thought they could still win the game so he was panicked and stressed while everyone else was quite relaxed.

"He's learning so much at the moment and he's applying himself and he wants to get better.

"You can see from the way he's performing and how he came off the bench today how good he can be."

On Saints' injury issues, Dowson said: "That is why we have a squad and put trust into someone like Tom Litchfield to start tonight to make sure Fraser Dingwall gets the rest and recovery he needs to be available as soon as possible.

"We're not too far away with some guys.

"Clearly we'll have to juggle, manage, rotate and trust people in different positions to make sure we can put our best foot forward."