Saints boss Dowson reflects on 'sobering' and 'humbling' defeat at La Rochelle

The black, green and gold were 32-0 down at half-time in their Heineken Champions Cup opener at Stade Marcel Deflandre.

Tries from James Ramm and Matt Proctor at least gave the travelling faithful something to cheer about, but Saints were largely outclassed on the night.

And boss Dowson said: "It was very sobering, humbling.

"We invited them into our 22 a lot and we were punished heavily.

"When you make mistakes, La Rochelle are very good and they will take their opportunities.

"The issue we had was that we gave penalties away very cheaply and I'm boring you to tears because we've said it a lot.

"They got opportunities in our half and we didn't limit those opportunities. They took a lot of them because that's what good sides do."

Saints kept fighting despite the game having got away from them before the break, and the return of Courtney Lawes, who had not played since September 24, was a big boost.

"The most important thing from my point of view was the energy and the effort the lads put in, and the second half reaction to it," Dowson said.

"Even in the first half, there wasn't any lack or physicality or energy - we just lacked the accuracy and discipline to do those things coherently.

"The second half reaction was excellent and it was the kind of close spell that you hope for away from home in Europe, but by that point the game had gone.

"Our scrum was excellent, some of our last-ditch defending was excellent and Courtney Lawes coming back from injury was good. To have him trucking it up is exactly what we needed."