Dowson backs Pollock and Co to step up for Saints in season ahead

With the likes of Sam Matavesi, Courtney Lawes and Lewis Ludlam having left the club this summer, the black, green and gold will hope to fill some gaps with high-potential Academy products.

Craig Wright and Henry Pollock recently starred for England Under-20s as they claimed glory in the World Rugby U20 Championship.

And both of those players, along with a few other up-and-coming aces, are set to be afforded more opportunities for Saints' first team in the campaign ahead.

When asked how close Pollock, who was on loan at Bedford Blues last season, is to getting regular Saints game time, Dowson said: "Very close because Henry Pollock has been involved with the first team last year so he's further down the track with that.

"With the absence of Lewis Ludlam and Sam Matavesi leaving, we've got players ready to go to the next level.

"We've got Craig Wright, Ewan Baker, Will Glister, all these lads who all want to impress."

Wright, Pollock and England Under-20s team-mate Toby Cousins are now enjoying a well-earned break along with the club's senior internationals.

The likes of Alex Mitchell and Tommy Freeman, who featured for England in their recent Summer Series against Japan and New Zealand, are on a five-week rest period.

"They get five weeks from the end of the New Zealand game," Dowson said.

"It's the same with Robbie (Smith) and Elliot Millar Mills who get five weeks after the Scotland tour."