'Christmas dinner will taste all the sweeter' - Dowson savours Saints' win at Gloucester

The black, green and gold eventually prevailed in the Gallagher Premiership clash after Adam Hastings missed a last-gasp penalty for the home side at Kingsholm.

Saints had seen a 24-7 lead disappear as Gloucester fought back to lead 29-24.

But Tom Litchfield's stunning score and a nerveless conversion from Fin Smith put Dowson's men back in front.

Nerves were jangling when Hastings lined up his effort with the last kick of the game, but he dropped it short and Saints booted the ball out to put the seal on a fine away success.

And Dowson said: "I'm very, very festive and delighted and excited.

"I'm looking forward to two days where we enjoy the win, make sure we recover and on Boxing Day we'll be back in to prep for Sale.

"It's a chance for lads to unwind with their families and Christmas dinner will taste all the sweeter because we managed to squeak a result."

Analysing the game as a whole, Dowson said: "We made loads and loads of errors and we weren't good in enough in certain aspects of our game, but what we didn't lack was graft, heart and the ability to work for each other. That's just about got us through today.

"First half we came out well. We knew Gloucester would come out roaring in front of a full house here. Despite their recent run of results, they're a very good team so we expected them to come out flying.

"We started really well.

"As the half wore on, we conceded in injury time in the first half and also got a yellow card and that really swings the momentum.

"They came out in the second half and built on the momentum but we didn't.

"It speaks volumes about the character of the people within the group and the group itself that we won here."

He added: "If we'd lost that game by a kick, we'd very much be talking about the discipline issues at scrum time, not rolling away at the breakdown. That last penalty that gave them an opportunity was for offside when we looked really comfortable in our defensive shape.

"The penalty against Courtney (Lawes) at the lineout was harsh because that can go either way, but if you give that many penalties away you're going to be under a tonne of pressure."

Litchfield moved from centre to wing for Saints, and he shone before playing a starring role with that sensational breakaway score.

"He finished the try really well," Dowson said.

"He's played on the wing for us before but he's not done it for a while so it's been a bit of a crash course this week in backfield coverage and dealing with high balls, which we knew Gloucester were going to throw up.

"For the most part, I thought Litchy was excellent and covered all of those bases."

Saints have now won five games in a row in all competitions, beating Harlequins, Saracens, Glasgow Warriors, Toulon and now Gloucester.

And Dowson said: "It's a great run and what the players, coaches and support staff have now is a real understanding of what we need to do to be at our best.

"We weren't at our best today and that comes down to personal prep, our training standards, how we recover, all those small things that have an impact on how we play.

"We weren't quite there this week but we've got to make sure we are next week for Sale."

There were plenty of Saints supporters at Kingsholm to celebrate the continuation of the fine run of form.

And Dowson said: "The momentum of the run is really built by the momentum of their support and people in the town are really getting behind us.

"You can see the numbers that have travelled to Gloucester today, it's fantastic, the players appreciate that and they know how much it means."