Northampton Saints: Phil Dowson ponders selection options for Prem return

While that group were away on international duty, Saints beat Harlequins in the Prem Rugby Cup but then lost to Newcastle Red Bulls and Leicester Tigers.

“In the PRC we give players an opportunity, we put them under pressure and they find out about themselves. We’re going to squeeze everything out of that game [against Leicester] in terms of our review,” Dowson told BBC Radio Northampton.

“Let’s make sure that when we go into the Bristol game, we’re humming and getting stuck in.

“[But] we have to take into account the headspace of those lads who have come out of the England camp and where they’re at, and what gets the best out of them over the next three months as opposed to the next three weeks.”

One piece of good news for Saints has been the involvement for the first time this season of full-back George Furbank in two of their PRC games following a calf injury.

“Trusting your body again after being out for so long is a tough thing mentally to do, but it’s just nice to be back out there,” he said.

“We’re back into the Premiership and Europe now. We’re in a good spot in the Premiership and we want to start Europe well.

“We’ve won away there (in Bristol) in a long time, but we’ve been good away from home this year so we’re going to take huge confidence going into that.”