Record's there to be broken as Dowson takes Saints to Sale

The black, green and gold will face Sale Sharks in a huge Gallagher PREM game at a venue now known as the CorpAcq Stadium.

Saints have not won a league match at Sale since March 2017, when tries from Ken Pisi, Michael Paterson, Mike Haywood and Alex Waller gave them a 32-12 success.

Saints go into this weekend’s game having lost on each of their past eight PREM visits to Sale.

But boss Dowson said: “The record doesn't really count for a lot to be honest because we've had home records that have been bust, and they have to go at some point.

"We focus on our performance and we work out what we need to do away from home.

"We've been talking about our away form since the end of last season through pre-season, and what we worked on in pre-season has paid some dividends so far. We need to continue to do that – and the next opportunity to do that is this weekend.”

Sale sent a heavily rotated team to Toulouse last Saturday, suffering their record defeat as they were thrashed 77-7.

It’s clear the main focus for the Sharks was this weekend’s clash with Saints.

And Dowson said: “I woudn't expect it any other way and (Sale boss) Alex Sanderson pretty much alluded in his interview after Bristol that this would be a huge focus for them.

"With the way qualifying had gone, they were already qualified before the Toulouse game so I think he's managing his resources to get the best result possible.

"We're under no illusions about the size of the challenge. That excites us and we want to try to change that record that we're currently carrying.

"We know it's going to be hugely physical, we know George Ford be playing for them with the quality and capability he has. We know they'll be desperate so they'll be a very dangerous side indeed.”

Saints have pushed Sale close in games at the home of the Sharks in recent years, losing by seven points in 2022, five points in 2023 and three points last season.

"I don't think we need to do too much differently,” Dowson said. “I don't think we've been overawed.

“Last year, we had a bit of a mixed team and we lost by three points.

“The year before, start of the season, the season we won the league, we lost by five points and we were knocking on the door in the last two minutes.

“We've been close before but we haven't been good enough so fundamentally we double down on what we always do, trust our training and try to get stuck in that way.

“But we're under no illusions as to the quality they bring and how hard the challenge is but I don't think we've ever been overawed.”