'Mixed emotions' for Dowson after Saints defeat Section Paloise

The black, green and gold displayed their character and class to bag a bonus-point 35-27 success at Stade du Hameau, where Pau had previously won all of their six matches this season.

Saints had to deal with a 20-minute red card for two-try James Ramm, who was sent from the field in the 48th minute for taking out Pau lock Thomas Jolmes in the air.

But Dowson's side eventually got the job done as George Hendy's late try and Fin Smith's penalty took the game away from Pau.

"I felt we almost had to win it twice," Saints boss Dowson said.

"From an emotional point of view, it's great to win in France. It was a great effort from the players, a great squad effort throughout the week and we've enjoyed our time in Pau.

"To get a win here, when they're unbeaten at home, second in the table, flying high in the Top 14 is great and we're really happy about that.

"On the flip side, our performance wasn't up to where we'd like it to be and we made hard work of it.

"We created loads and loads of opportunities in the first half and didn't convert. That's fine. Sometimes it doesn't happen.

"The 20-minute red card throws a spanner in the works and I just don't think we continued to play how we wanted to play. That's something we need to look at from a coaching point of view with regards to how we manage those periods of time because that's two weeks in a row where we've been off the boil a little bit in those periods.

"So there are mixed emotions but fundamentally if you find a group that can find a way to win away in France, you're probably on to a good thing."

Ramm's red left Saints up against it, especially as they conceded a try to go 24-17 down two minutes later.

"With the rules they've brought in with regards to competing in the air, we're getting a lot more competition and things like that are going to happen," Dowson said.

"Rambo hasn't gone to drag him (Jolmes) down, he's gone to slap the ball back and it happens in nanoseconds.

"He's not meant to do that and if I was being absolutely honest I would say that was a yellow card but a 20-minute red, if that's what it is, then we have to deal with it.

"There were other things in the game from a refereeing point of view that I thought were more obvious than that."

When asked whether he felt Saints managed their time with 14 men well, Dowson said: "In some ways we did.

"They (Pau) started to kick at goal rather than going for the corner when we were down to 14 but in the same breath, we didn’t exert any of our own pressure and we felt a little bit like we invited them on to us in that period."

Saints really stepped things up at scrum time, winning a series of crucial penalties from Pau put-ins, with replacement props Manny Iyogun and Cleopas Kundiona making a big impact.

"I wouldn't necessarily highlight individuals," Dowson said. "The only one I'd say was (Saints scrum coach) Jaco Pienaar at the end there when he said 'we've got this' and he said at half-time 'we're on top of them and we're going to punish them'.

"In that 20-minute period where we were under pressure, I thought our scrum got us out of some holes. To do that away in France, where it's no scrum, no win, speaks volumes about that group of players and I include all the lads who weren't playing: Henry Walker, Luke Green, Marco Manfredi et al, all those lads who weren't lucky enough to get picked.

"The scrum was excellent today and you find a way to win. We hit that nail very hard and we're delighted with that group. I made a special note of that in the post-match chat with the lads.

"We said we were going to go after it at scrum time - and we did."

Saints had their work cut out as the vociferous home crowd had an impact on the game.

And they even took a dislike to Henry Pollock, booing him just seconds after he came off the bench.

"Henry loves being booed," Dowson said.

"The more attention he gets, the more vitriol - that's why you love playing away from home, because of that walk-in we had through the crowd, which you don't get at many grounds. It's the passion the French have for their rugby.

"Pau is a great town, I really like it and their fans were really getting into it. It is good fun."

When asked how Saints would celebrate their win, Dowson said: "We'll go mildly wild on the flight home and we should celebrate the effort and the intent and how we went about it and how we stuck together.

"Of course no performance is perfect - and we were a long way off perfect today because we made hard work of it so we need to dig down into why that might be from a decision point of view and a skill and execution point of view."

As ever, Saints weren’t short of support away from home in Europe.

Dowson said: "I walked through town today just to get some fresh air and so many people wished me good luck because they had flown out to support the group and have a weekend away. You see at the end the enjoyment they've got from that.

"As ever, it's a huge thank-you to them.”