The second-half tweak that sparked Saints’ comeback win over Sale
Northampton star George Furbank on his way to the tryline.
Northampton Saints boss Phil Dowson revealed that speeding up their game was key to his side’s comeback to beat Sale Sharks 21-17 in the Premiership.
Sale had a strong start to the match going 14-0 up heading into the back end of the fixture before George Furbank and Alex Mitchell’s tries along with a penalty try clawed the hosts back into the tie.
The win extends Northampton’s impressive winning run to six games.
No reward in the first 40
Dowson felt his side was solid enough in the first period but just needed to make some slight tweaks to reap the rewards.
“We did some decent stuff in the second half. We drove the pace and got a bit more of our game on the pitch,” the Northampton director of rugby said.
“Sale are a good side, they shut us down in the first half and we didn’t convert any of our pressure.
“They had one opportunity and scored, which put them in the ascendancy at half-time. But we said at half-time that it was absolutely OK and that we had done a lot of good things.
“We weren’t upset in any way as a coaching group, we just knew we had a bit more and against good groups, you sometimes have to wear them down and figure out where the space is.
“In the second half, Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell and George Furbank did that. Fair play to the squad for really turning it on in the last 20 minutes.
“We tried to play a bit quicker in the second half and be more optimistic in terms of how we wanted to play.”
“There is pride”
Meanwhile, Sale boss Alex Sanderson was delighted with his team’s mentality despite letting their lead slip which he put down to losing the collision battle late on.
“There is pride,” said Sanderson.
“I thought our mentality and effort was outstanding tonight and you are not going to lose many games with that kind of mentality.
“It feels a lot different from a couple of other losses we have had this year when we just haven’t been at the races.
“We were in the fight, up for it, and probably had the game by the short and curlies if not for some lost collisions and some discipline.
“There were 10 minutes after half-time when we seemed to be constantly on the back foot and they were making yards with every carry.
“We want to be on the front foot making collisions, otherwise you find yourself in the tumble dryer like we were for 20 minutes.”
