Dowson praises Saints players for dealing with tricky conditions in Cardiff clash

The black, green and gold were hit with a downpour just before the Investec Champions Cup clash with Cardiff Rugby began.

The rain continued for much of the first half, making handling tough for both teams.

Cardiff spent long periods in Saints territory during the opening 40 minutes but were unable to score a single point as Dowson's men headed in at half-time 14-0 up thanks to tries from James Pater and Toby Thame.

The Welsh side did eventually score to halve the deficit, and they then notched another try to cut the gap to just two points against a Saints side who lost Anthony Belleau to the sin bin.

But the black, green and gold then kicked up a gear as tries from man of the match George Hendy and club captain Fraser Dingwall finished the job to secure a 28-12 success.

"It's what Europe's all about: tough competition," Saints boss Dowson said.

"The conditions obviously changed before kick-off and we had to adapt. I thought the players on the whole did that very well.

"It was nip and tuck throughout the game and despite some of our results, lots of those games have been tight so Cardiff were competitive and at it throughout.

"Only in the last few minutes did we manage to get some breathing space."

Saints rested Manny Iyogun, Alex Coles, Henry Pollock and Tommy Freeman.

But the players who did take to the field ensured the home side would maintain their Gardens winning habit.

"It's always exciting to see people on their journey," Dowson said. "James Pater, Charlie Ulcoq, playing their first Champions Cup game, was great to see and I thought they were both excellent.

"Everyone wants to go deep in both tournaments, league and cup, and we're no different so we're going to have to trust the squad, use the depth, give people opportunities and see how they react to pressure and I thought on the whole all those players who stepped in were excellent."

Saints' defence impressed eight days on from the Gardens try-fest against Bath.

"I was really pleased with our effort around the loose ball, how we scrambled back, how we chased kicks, all those things that are hard to measure that really speak about the effort and emotional buy-in of the playing group," Dowson said.

"And I thought our goal-line defence was excellent, in terms of making them go another set, keeping them out, holding them up - all that goal-line stuff was as good as it's been this season."

Hendy was the star of the show for Saints, playing a key role in the opening try, scoring one of his own in the second half and then producing a stunning try-saving tackle on Josh Adams.

When asked about that last-ditch stop on Adams, Dowson said: "A huge moment.

"If they score that, it gives them a real emotional fillip, a massive energy and it makes the last 10 minutes pretty uncomfortable."