Saints boss Dowson so happy to have Langdon back for the run-in

Langdon made his first appearance of the season earlier this month as he came off the bench in Saints' PREM Rugby Cup semi-final defeat at Exeter Chiefs.

He had been out since last summer due to a shoulder injury sustained towards the end of last season.

And Dowson is happy to have the England man to call upon ahead of some huge matches in the Gallagher PREM and Investec Champions Cup.

"It's been brilliant to have him back," Dowson said.

"It was a difficult injury for him, a long period of time after what was a really good year and an England tour.

"He was obviously frustrated and keen to get back.

"He'd been champing at the bit in training, sometimes going overboard, but always very, very competitive, as you can imagine.

"We're delighted to get him back because he's a very high quality player who is a big part of the group."

Saints now have an enviable selection of players at hooker, with Langdon, Craig Wright, Robbie Smith, Henry Walker and Marco Manfredi vying for minutes.

"That competition breeds really high quality in training and we'll need all of that quality through this long block now," Dowson said.