🔗 Share this article

This English town may not be the most glamorous spot globally, but its rugby union team provides a great deal of excitement and passion.

In a city renowned for boot‑making, you could anticipate boot work to be the Saints’ modus operandi. Yet under leader Phil Dowson, the team in the club's hues opt to retain possession.

Despite playing for a typically British community, they display a flair synonymous with the finest Gallic masters of expansive play.

From the time Dowson and fellow coach Sam Vesty stepped up in 2022, Northampton have secured the English top flight and progressed well in the Champions Cup – beaten by Bordeaux-Bègles in the ultimate match and knocked out by Dublin-based club in a semi-final previously.

They sit atop the league standings after multiple successes and a single stalemate and travel to Ashton Gate on matchday as the sole undefeated team, aiming for a first win at Ashton Gate since 2021.

It would be expected to think Dowson, who featured in 262 top-flight games for various teams in total, had long intended to be a coach.

“During my career, I never seriously considered it,” he remarks. “Yet as you get older, you realise how much you enjoy the sport, and what the everyday life is like. I worked briefly at a banking firm doing a trial period. You make the journey a multiple instances, and it was difficult – you realise what you do and don’t have.”

Talks with club legends led to a job at the Saints. Fast-forward several seasons and Dowson leads a roster ever more packed with internationals: Tommy Freeman, Fraser Dingwall, Alex Mitchell and Alex Coles were selected for the national side versus the All Blacks two weeks ago.

An emerging talent also had a profound impact from the replacements in England’s flawless campaign while the fly-half, down the line, will assume the No 10 jersey.

Is the development of this outstanding cohort because of the team's ethos, or is it luck?

“This is a bit of both,” states Dowson. “I would acknowledge Chris Boyd, who gave them opportunities, and we had challenging moments. But the practice they had as a unit is definitely one of the factors they are so united and so skilled.”

Dowson also cites Mallinder, a former boss at Franklin’s Gardens, as a significant mentor. “I was lucky to be mentored by really interesting individuals,” he notes. “Jim had a significant influence on my rugby life, my management style, how I deal with people.”

Northampton play entertaining rugby, which was clearly evident in the case of Anthony Belleau. The Gallic player was involved with the opposing team beaten in the European competition in the spring when Tommy Freeman notched a three tries. Belleau was impressed enough to buck the pattern of UK players heading across the Channel.

“An associate rang me and remarked: ‘We've found a French 10 who’s looking for a team,’” Dowson explains. “I said: ‘We lack the funds for a French fly-half. Another target will have to wait.’

‘He’s looking for experience, for the opportunity to test himself,’ my mate told me. That caught my attention. We spoke to Belleau and his communication was incredible, he was eloquent, he had a funny side.

“We asked: ‘What do you want from this?’ He responded to be trained, to be challenged, to be outside his comfort zone and beyond the domestic competition. I was saying: ‘Join us, you’re a legend of a man.’ And he proved to be. We’re blessed to have him.”

Dowson states the 20-year-old Henry Pollock provides a unique energy. Has he encountered an individual like him? “Never,” Dowson answers. “All players are individual but Henry is unusual and remarkable in multiple respects. He’s not afraid to be himself.”

Pollock’s spectacular touchdown against Leinster in the past campaign demonstrated his exceptional talent, but some of his expressive in-game actions have resulted in allegations of cockiness.

“At times seems arrogant in his actions, but he’s far from it,” Dowson asserts. “Furthermore Pollock is being serious all the time. Tactically he has input – he’s not a clown. I feel on occasion it’s portrayed that he’s just this idiot. But he’s bright and a positive influence to have around.”

Hardly any directors of rugby would admit to having a bromance with a colleague, but that is how Dowson frames his connection with Sam Vesty.

“We both have an inquisitiveness about diverse subjects,” he explains. “We run a book club. He wants to see various elements, seeks to understand everything, desires to try varied activities, and I believe I’m the alike.

“We talk about numerous things beyond rugby: movies, reading, concepts, creativity. When we played Stade [Français] last year, the landmark was being done up, so we had a brief exploration.”

Another match in France is approaching: Northampton’s comeback with the English competition will be brief because the continental event kicks in shortly. Pau, in the foothills of the Pyrenees, are up first on the coming weekend before the South African team travel to the following weekend.

“I’m not going to be presumptuous sufficiently to {