Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson admits to feeling sorry for Gloucester following the league leaders’ record-breaking 90-0 win that secured a home semi-final in the Gallagher Premiership.
Gloucester, ranked ninth, demonstrated their priorities by making 12 changes to the team that upset Benetton in the European Challenge Cup semi-finals last week, and their makeshift lineup was torn apart.
Northampton scored 14 tries to secure their best Premiership win, the most points scored by a home team in the competition’s history, and the second-largest margin of victory.
Dowson stated, “I know (Gloucester head coach) George Skivington very well; I obviously worked with him throughout the Six Nations, and there are definitely different agendas going on.
“We had to do something today to secure a home semi-final, and George is preparing for a European final and next season, so there were other motivating elements today.
“It’s never fun to be on the receiving end of a 90-0 thrashing, but we needed to get the job done. “I wanted to encourage the players to stay focused on what that was and not be distracted by the score.”
“So you have to accept that, and we have all been there. We’ve all been at the conclusion of such types of games, and you learn a lot about yourself and your squad. “I’m sure George, Dom Waldouck and all those good lads at Gloucester will take that on moving forward.”
Northampton’s Ollie Sleightholme scored a hat-trick, with other tries from George Furbank, Fraser Dingwall, Curtis Langdon (2), Alex Mitchell, Alex Waller, Sam Matavesi (2), Emmanuel Iyogun, Alex Moon, and Tom James.
Their incredible score is only equaled in the Premiership by Richmond’s 106-12 thrashing of Bedford in May 1999.
Skivington, Gloucester’s head coach, said: “When I saw the team they selected, I expected a big score today.
“I knew momentum would turn against us at some point, and it would be difficult to recover, but it was excruciating. “I thought Saints were completely ruthless. I thought they were fantastic today, and our young players just couldn’t gain traction, couldn’t find a way out, couldn’t get anything going in the game.
“And everytime we got a little momentum, the Saints defense turned the ball over and took it away from us. “It was always going to be a difficult day, but we prepared accordingly. I can’t complain too much about it, but we won’t shrug it off either.
“I thought there were some lads who really did show what they could do and there were a few who showed they’re well off the pace in the Premiership.”
