Dowson so proud of his heroic Saints as they book Champions Cup final place

Dowson's men, who were hit by three yellow cards during the semi-final showdown at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, delivered at both ends of the pitch to book their place in the May 24 showpiece.

Saints were huge underdogs heading to Ireland, but they produced surely one of the greatest performances in the club's storied history to secure a 37-34 victory against a Leinster side who had scored 114 unanswered points during their previous two knockout stage matches.

And Dowson said: "I'm just immensely proud.

"That second half was ugly but we just stuck at it and the decision at the end (when Alex Coles was yellow carded and Leinster mounted one final attack), the coaching group were almost in tears because it came down to that last bit. That's the beauty of the game, isn't it?

"I'm so proud of that group - the effort they put during the second half with that rearguard effort, the yellow cards, the defensive sets we put in. Huge credit."

Tommy Freeman scored a memorable first-half hat-trick for Saints against Leinster to help put the black, green and gold 27-15 up at the break.

"Tommy comes across as a very laid-back, relaxed, happy-go-lucky guy, a bit like Ben Foden in that sense when I played," Dowson said. "Nothing seems to faze him and he can play on occasions like that.

"But he's also massively driven, he's in the office looking at backfield coverage, he's in the office with Radders (defence coach Lee Radford) looking at tackle technique.

"Don't let him fool you that he's this casual, laid-back guy because he's actually pushing himself incredibly hard and his athleticism is unreal."

Saints had lost 20-17 to Leinster in the semi-final at Croke Park a year earlier.

But there would be no repeat of that defeat at the Aviva Stadium.

"We take a lot from last year in terms of we didn't start particularly well last year but we got into our game a lot quicker this year," Dowson said.

"From the defensive side of the ball, Radders (defence coach) has been working hard, we've been doing a lot of graft, particularly when we played against Bristol with the way they moved the ball.

"Our tight five's ability to move and shut plays down because Leinster want to move the ball and have the ability to, it speaks volumes about the coaching from Lee Radford but also how coachable the players are as well.

"That adaptability and how we've got better over the course of the season was obviously paramount today."