"He's a Big Miss" – Phil Dowson: Northampton Saints DoR calls for new leaders to step up after Courtney Lawes exit

08/29/2024 09:37 AM

Northampton Saints have certainly entered a new era ahead of the 2024/25 Premiership season, with a fresh badge and a shaken-up squad ready for the incoming campaign. Director of Rugby Phil Dowson is excited to see his side enter the season as defending Premiership champions; a position the Saints find themselves in for the first time in 10 years.

Preparations are well underway for Northampton’s first match of the new season, which is a highly anticipated Premiership Final rematch against Bath. Dowson’s side travel to the Rec for the fixture on September 21st, with pre-season warm-up matches against Leinster and Bedford Blues set to iron out the creases in the coming weeks.

Whilst the side is preparing the best they can for fresh start, there is no denying the void left by the assortment of club legends that departed at the end of the 2023/24 season. The likes of Courtney Lawes, Lewis Ludlam and Alex Waller all ended their tenures in green, black and gold as Premiership champions, with Dowson highlighting how Lawes’ role as locker room leader is already being missed.

It was also clear that Dowson was delighted with the news that indie rock band Oasis were reuniting for a tour in 2025, as the Northampton Director of Rugby sprinkled in a handful of the Gallagher’s song titles throughout his recent press conference.

“I think, Courtney is an absolute rock and roll star, he really is. He is club legend, and clearly his experience and his know how, in how we would look to him in certain moments, will be missed. But I think little by little, we’re picking up some of that experience around him. People are learning from him, and other players are taking up some of his personality under pressure.

“Very cool and calm under pressure. Now, I think people like (George) Furbank, people like Dingers (Fraser Dingwall), people like Alex Coles would have picked up huge amount from just being around him in those games. So clearly he’s a big miss. But we have to move forward, and we have to try and develop different leaders.”

Dowson expressed his support for the additional Saints players that departed Franklin’s Gardens, as he recited the unsung heroes that may have slipped out of the spotlight focussed upon Lawes. The Director of Rugby appreciates how the Saints have certainly entered a new era which has been embodied by the fresh new logo, that is currently being plastered around the cinch stadium stands.

I think what we’ve got, and what we’re conscious of is, is because every year is a different chapter in the history of the club. So that chapter (2023/24) was a great chapter, and we managed to send some players off here that contributed a huge amount to club. Alex Waller, Lewis Ludlam, Alex Moon, Joel Mat (Matavesi) you know, Tom Cruse, all these lads who contribute a huge amount of club.

“We retired the badge. The badge is changing, there is some identity stuff in there. It finished on a real high, but it finished, and that season’s gone. So what we’ve got to be careful of, and whether this was a problem in 2014 or not, I don’t know. It’s open to conjecture, but we can’t now just live off that (success).

“The next group have to step up. There’s loads who have contributed last year, but didn’t contribute as much as they wanted to. Now the challenge is for them, is to replace some of those players who’ve gone away, to fill those gaps and show what they’re capable of on the stage.”

With such a dawning of change rising above Franklin’s Gardens, Dowson cast his mind to the future of his leadership group following such a shake-up at the Saints. The former lock recognised the strength of the Northampton academy, in how it has produced some of the leading names amongst today’s green, black and gold army.

Also, the 42-year-old emphasised the importance of the lower leagues in allowing budding Saints players the chance to cut their teeth in senior rugby. The club has an excellent relationship with Championship side Bedford Blues, with the two sides set to meet in a pre-season fixture in the coming weeks, that doubles up as the official memorial match for dual club legend Edgar Mobbs. Dowson expressed how both the academy and loaning systems has put his relatively young squad in solid stead to defend their Premiership title.

“It’s sometimes difficult when you haven’t put the blowtorch of a game on them to see exactly where they (the team) are at. But we’ve got lots of people, and that’s effectively our m.o (mission objective) in terms of how we put a squad together. You look at all those lads who’ve come through in terms of Mitch (Alex Mitchell) and Ferbs (George Furbank) and Dingers (Fraser Dingwall) from the academy system.

“But there’s loads of guys throughout who are playing National One or in the Championship, who’ve also come through. Sam Graham’s a great example. TJ (Tom James) is a really good example. Robbie Smith’s a good example, of guys who’ve come through that, and who’ve shown themselves to be capable. And the point is, it’s more or less their aptitude and their attitude and everything else that they can learn and get better at.”

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