Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson accepted that his side had been given a real challenge despite victory over Newcastle Falcons.
He said: “We saw that they had a real buzz from their victory at Perpignan last week and we know that they are always a really tight group.

“We took our opportunities and they didn’t take theirs and if they had done so it might have been a totally different story.

“With so many changes in our side, we tried to play a more simple game and it took us some time to grow into the match.

“The break has come at a right time for us as energy levels need to be re...