Dowson wants Saints to 'cherish and enjoy' massive match against Munster

The black, green and gold will march into the European knockout stages on a high, having beaten Saracens 41-30 at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens last Friday night.

And Saints will be looking to continue their fine season in the Champions Cup as they came through Pool 3 with a 100 per cent record.

They beat Munster along the way, earning a stunning 26-23 win at Thomond Park in January despite having Curtis Langdon sent off during the first half of that match.

And now Saints will look to deliver another huge performance against the talented Irish team, who will be bidding to turn the tables when they travel to the Gardens.

When asked about the prospect of playing a last-16 tie at home, Dowson said: "It's fantastic and it's exactly what we wanted to do.

"We wanted to give ourselves the opportunity to play knockout rugby, in whichever tournament it is.

"We worked incredibly hard in our European campaign for that prize, and we want to cherish that and enjoy it.

"We've got to make sure we get our training week right, our preparation and all that sort of boring stuff I always talk about so we can get our performance right."

Saints have again sold out this weekend and they will hope for similar noise levels from their supporters to the incredible backing they received from the full house against Saracens.

Dowson said: "It's what you get when you get a really quality opposition and when you get a club like this that is so well supported with people coming and filling the stadium to get behind us.

"You heard it at the end when we were putting defensive sets in. The crowd were singing and it has a huge impact on the players."