Saints Coach Phil Dowson: ‘Banking Was a Difficult Experience’
Northampton may not be the most glamorous location globally, but its rugby union team provides a great deal of romance and adventure.
In a city known for boot‑making, you might expect kicking to be the Saints’ main approach. Yet under head coach Phil Dowson, the squad in the club's hues prefer to retain possession.
Even though playing for a quintessentially English town, they exhibit a flair typical of the best French masters of expansive play.
After Dowson and fellow coach Sam Vesty took over in 2022, the Saints have secured the Premiership and advanced far in the Champions Cup – beaten by a French side in the previous campaign's decider and eliminated by Leinster in a penultimate round previously.
They lead the league standings after a series of victories and one tie and travel to their West Country rivals on matchday as the only unbeaten side, aiming for a maiden victory at Bristol's home since 2021.
It would be expected to think Dowson, who featured in 262 top-flight matches for multiple clubs in total, always planned to be a manager.
“When I played, I never seriously considered it,” he remarks. “Yet as you get older, you comprehend how much you love the sport, and what the normal employment entails. I worked briefly at a financial institution doing work experience. You make the journey a few times, and it was challenging – you realise what you do and don’t have.”
Conversations with Dusty Hare and Jim Mallinder led to a role at the Saints. Jump ahead a decade and Dowson guides a squad progressively filled with global stars: prominent figures started for the Red Rose against the New Zealand two weeks ago.
An emerging talent also had a significant influence off the bench in the national team's successful series while Fin Smith, in time, will take over the fly-half role.
Is the emergence of this remarkable group because of the Saints’ culture, or is it fortune?
“It is a combination of the two,” states Dowson. “I would acknowledge the former director of rugby, who gave them opportunities, and we had some tough days. But the practice they had as a unit is certainly one of the causes they are so close-knit and so gifted.”
Dowson also cites Jim Mallinder, an earlier coach at Franklin’s Gardens, as a major influence. “I’ve been fortunate to be guided by exceptionally insightful people,” he notes. “Jim had a major effect on my professional journey, my coaching, how I interact with others.”
The team execute attractive the game, which proved literally true in the instance of the French fly-half. The Frenchman was involved with the Clermont XV beaten in the Champions Cup in last season when Tommy Freeman scored a hat-trick. The player admired the style enough to go against the flow of British stars moving to France.
“A friend phoned me and stated: ‘There’s a French 10 who’s looking for a club,’” Dowson explains. “I replied: ‘We don’t have funds for a overseas star. A different option will have to wait.’
‘He wants new challenges, for the chance to prove his worth,’ my friend informed me. That interested me. We met with Belleau and his English was incredible, he was well-spoken, he had a witty personality.
“We asked: ‘What are your goals from this?’ He said to be guided, to be driven, to be facing unfamiliar situations and outside the French league. I was like: ‘Join us, you’re a great person.’ And he has been. We’re blessed to have him.”
Dowson states the 20-year-old Henry Pollock provides a specific vitality. Has he coached anyone comparable? “Never,” Dowson replies. “Each person is individual but he is distinct and special in multiple respects. He’s unafraid to be himself.”
Pollock’s breathtaking touchdown against their opponents last season demonstrated his exceptional talent, but some of his animated in-game actions have brought claims of overconfidence.
“He sometimes seems overconfident in his behavior, but he’s not,” Dowson says. “And he's not taking the piss the whole time. Game-wise he has input – he’s not a clown. I feel at times it’s portrayed that he’s only a character. But he’s bright and good fun in the squad.”
Hardly any managers would claim to have having a bromance with a colleague, but that is how Dowson characterizes his partnership with Sam Vesty.
“Together share an curiosity around various topics,” he says. “We have a literary circle. He desires to explore various elements, aims to learn all there is, desires to try different things, and I think I’m the same.
“We discuss many subjects outside the sport: cinema, books, ideas, culture. When we faced the Parisian club in the past season, Notre-Dame was undergoing restoration, so we had a quick look.”
Another match in the French nation is coming up: Northampton’s return with the domestic league will be short-lived because the European tournament takes over next week. The French side, in the shadow of the Pyrenees, are up first on Sunday week before the Pretoria-based club visit a week later.
“I won't be presumptuous to the extent to {
