Phil Dowson: Northampton boss concerned about ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ flaw

Northampton Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson has challenged his side to eliminate a “Jekyll and Hyde” tendency in order to improve on last season.

Saints drew 33-33 with Exeter Chiefs in their opening game of the new Prem campaign, failing to put a single point on the board after the break, having led 33-7.

They return to action away to Gloucester on Sunday and will be without Trevor Davison, Craig Wright and Sam Graham because of head knocks.

“It’s more of a mindset issue, which is always difficult to define and rectify immediately,” Dowson told BBC Radio Northampton.

“The messages at half-time were to make sure we continued in the same vein and kept our foot down, but what transpired was for us to continually knock the ball on, not look after the ball in contact, over and over again, and it fed their [Exeter’s] belief.

“Whether it’s us trying to protect a lead or us overplaying, it’s dependent on the individual and their mindset – we’ve been trying to dig down into that because it’s quite nuanced.”