Dowson delighted as Saints show they can win ugly against Exeter

Dowson's side scrapped all the way through before eventually prevailing to claim a crucial Gallagher Premiership victory at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens on Friday night.

Saints more than matched Exeter's physicality, and thanks to two tries from Tommy Freeman and the accurate boot of Fin Smith, they were able to win out.

"We said it was an evening for scrapping, for doing the simple things well, for getting stuck in and doing the ugly stuff," Dowson said. "Particularly in the second half, we showed that in spades.

"It was a greasy evening, really tough opposition going hard at the breakdown, we showed plenty of heart, relentlessness and resilience in that space.

"We saw when you start to play behind your own halfway line, you get into trouble on a night like tonight.

"Although that's frustrating and we always want to play our game, you have to adapt it slightly to how they defend and what the conditions are like.

"It was brilliant in terms of our patience and sticking to the plan and eventually getting the rewards.

"It says a lot about the group and that's exactly what Fraser (Dingwall) said at the end in the huddle as captain. He said we stuck to the plan, we showed patience and we showed plenty of fight. You'll go plenty of places with those things particularly as conditions get worse.

"We've got to show we've got the ability to do it through the dark months.

"We talked a little bit about how we deal with setbacks, get back on plan and don't double up on errors because that has happened in the past when we've lost momentum.

"It was really interesting to watch the group and how they reacted to going behind.

"In terms of what we trained and the leadership those players showed, I thought it was outstanding."