‘Connected’ Saints will ‘fly into’ Euro final – Dowson

Phil Dowson, the manager of Northampton Saints, predicts that his tight-knit team will face the pressure of attempting to win the European Championship for the first time in 25 years.

11 months after beating Bath to win their first domestic title in a decade, they face Bordeaux in the Champions Cup final on Saturday at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

The star-studded side of Bordeaux is currently second in France’s Top 14, and the game pits two teams that like to play an expansive game.

“You can tell from the quality of their squad that we’re dealing with some long-term injuries. We’re likely underdogs just based on those factors alone, and I believe that’s because of how their league standing compares to our league standing, Dowson said on BBC Radio Northampton.

With four British & Irish Lions in their side and an all-for-one, one-for-all mentality, the director of rugby believes Saints still have some trump cards. They will be evaluated before Dowson finalizes his line-up.

According to him, “We have a very close group, a connected group, and we have some very talented players in there,” “the perception from the outside is irrelevant.”

“We work at that by talking about one another, valuing each other’s efforts, and pushing each other to improve across the board, whether it’s players playing for Bedford, Hinckley, Leicester Lions, or players making semi-final or final in Europe.

Bordeaux also has a lot of top-notch players, with Damien Penaud and Louis Bielle-Biarrey leading the way at half-back and Maxime Lucu and Matthieu Jalibert leading the way at half-back.

They are incredibly entertaining to watch because Jalibert and Lucu have incredible vision and a fast moving pace, Dowson said.

Their wingers are lightning quick, I admire the (number) eight]Australian international Pete Samu], he’s a really good ball carrier, and Maxime Lamothe appears to be a character with a character all around.

You anticipate seeing that from a French side that is second at the table. They want to be brave, they want to play quickly, and they want to look for space.

A similar scoreline this time seems unlikely given the attacking style of both teams, which was won in 2000 by Northampton who defeated Munster 9-8 at Twickenham.

This time, they have traveled to South Africa, where they competed in the group stage, and Dublin, where they lost 37-34 to Leinster in a tight semi-final, which Dowson praised as “exceptional.”

He said, “I don’t know, but I’m hoping they win on Saturday.” Nobody knows what will happen, which is the whole purpose of sport and the reason we adore it.

All I can tell you is that when it comes to going well, we will celebrate, and when things go wrong, we will pick each other up. We are going to go flying into it with a lot of energy and a lot of heart.