Dowson salutes Saints' effort and attitude after win against Bedford

The black, green and gold, wearing their new purple away kit, scored six tries on their way to victory at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens.

Mike Haywood, Matt Arden, Sam Graham, Robbie Smith, Courtnall Skosan and Tom James grabbed the tries in what was Phil Dowson's first game in charge of Saints.

Dowson took over as director of rugby following the departure of Chris Boyd during the summer.

And he savoured his first game as boss, praising the players for their application while recognising the need to keep improving ahead of the Premiership opener at Sale Sharks on September 9.

"I was excited going into the game - it all felt a bit new," said Dowson, who was forwards coach at Saints last season.

"In terms of the performance, I thought there were performances in fits and starts really, which is what you expect in pre-season.

"It was a bit stop-start and a little bit disjointed at times, which we knew was going to happen.

"It was good to blow away some cobwebs but there are clearly things to work on as well.

"It's never likely to be perfect with the combinations, with the time we've put in, with the build-up we want to have into the first game.

"We want to make sure we're getting better each week so that we're ready to perform full on against Sale.

"There's a lot of things that weren't right in this game but there were also a lot of things that were in terms of our effort and our attitude, which were outstanding."

Dowson handed starts to five summer signings, with Ethan Waller, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Angus Scott-Young, Sam Graham and James Ramm all in from the off.

And there were also first black, green and gold appearances for Robbie Smith, Alfie Petch and Callum Braley from the bench.

"Lukhan, James and Angus were all very good," Dowson said of his Australian contingent.

"Robbie Smith had a big impact around the field, and Cal Braley, too.

"It's great for those guys to experience Franklin's Gardens because we've been training at NSB.

"All of them commented on the quality of the pitch here, all of them commented on the size of the crowd for pre-season, all of them look very comfortable in the shirt and look like they understand what it means to be a Saint."