'You can't coach that' - Dowson hails Saints' heart after win against Saracens

It looked like Saracens would claim the bonus-point win they badly wanted when they went 24-7 up, but Saints, who have nothing but pride left to play for in the Gallagher Premiership, refused to give up.

And in the end, the black, green and gold's character won out as they claimed a dramatic 28-24 win thanks to replacement prop Tarek Haffar's late try.

"The bench coming on and providing that energy was excellent," Saints boss Dowson said. "It was a great way to finish at home.

"I talk about it all the time and it speaks volumes about the group. They're judged on their actions, and their actions during the second half were exceptional.

"I'm immensely proud of the effort they put in to go for it.

"There's always something on the line and we said we wanted to pay homage to the players who are leaving and who didn't get the chance to play today. I felt we did that in the second half.

"You can't coach that (heart) and that's because they're a tight group, they get on with each other and that's invaluable to any club."

Haffar's contribution from the bench was huge as he scored two tries on the day.

The loosehead prop will leave Saints for Leicester Tigers this summer, but at least he can take some special memories from his final match at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens with him.

"He's exceptional and sometimes those things happen and we lose exceptional players," Dowson said.

"But for the next two, three weeks he's a Saints player, we're going to love him like one and we'll support him as much as we can."

Saints' sights now turn to Cardiff as they head to the Welsh capital for the Investec Champions Cup final next Saturday.

But they will be sweating over the fitness of several players after losing more key men to injury against Saracens.

Curtis Langdon, Temo Mayanvanua, Alex Coles and James Ramm all had to be replaced, adding to the 13 players who were already ruled out before the game.

Juarno Augustus was one of them, and he confirmed during his Gardens farewell that he won't be able to feature in the final next weekend.

As for those who went off against Saracens, Dowson says it's too early to tell whether they will be available.

"It's such early days before we have a look at them and they have a night's sleep on it," Dowson said.

"Curt's come off with a stinger and hopefully he's okay.

"Temo rolled his ankle and Colesy has hurt his knee but to what extent we're not yet sure.

"We tried to make decisions based on what the medics were telling us and that's what we always do."