'Our season in a nutshell' - Dowson reacts to Saints' comeback success against Sale

The black, green and gold had fallen 24-7 down at half-time, despite the fact the Sharks had Manu Tuilagi sent off for a forearm to the face of Tommy Freeman on 14 minutes.

Sale, who sit second in the Gallagher Premiership, were looking formidable, but they were hit by two second-half yellow cards and eventually crumbled.

Saints were 34-19 down with 17 minutes to go, but a penalty try and efforts from Callum Braley and Fraser Dingwall secured a memorable 38-34 bonus-point home win.

"It's kind of our season in a nutshell really," Dowson said.

"In the first half, we were very poor, gave penalties away, didn't have the ball in their half, played in the middle of the field and couldn't deal with the maul so we conceded four tries.

"It was unacceptable, but what you have to congratulate the players on is the heart, the desire and the character to come back.

"We got back on page, played properly, got back in the game and we kept fighting. Those are the most important things from our point of view.

"I thought Sale played particularly well with 14 and we had to earn the opportunities to go forward so there are obviously things we have to get better at.

"With six minutes to go, I said to (Saints head coach) Sam Vesty 'I'm not sure we're going to do this' and he told me to shut up.

"We've got the ability to score tries, we know that, it's just about how we create those opportunities, and we have to be better defensively."