An uplifting aspect of this weekend’s Prem final is the Englishmen who dominate the coaching staffs of the competing clubs: Northampton Saints and Exeter Chiefs.
This is not to decry the overseas coaches in charge of England’s football and cricket teams, but it must be a goal of a sport’s domestic system to at least put forward people ready to lead the national side.
Exeter’s Rob Baxter will have his backers if a vacancy ever crops up at Twickenham, but Phil Dowson of Northampton has strengths as a coach, manager and man that justify the training of a spotlight upon him.
No coach on the planet ticks every box as an ideal England boss. The Rugby Football Union have tried mid-contract sackings (Eddie Jones and Andy Robinson), and foreign targets not landed (Wayne Smith, Graham Henry, Warren Gatland) and ones that seem forever to get away (Shaun Edwards). Steve Borthwick is the incumbent, with a contract up to next year’s World Cup.
The 44-year-old Dowson possesses a “curious mind”, as Mark Darbon – the Northampton board member who was CEO when Dowson was appointed director of rugby in 2022 – describes him to The i Paper .
Saints could be the core of England’s squad for years to come (Photo: Getty)
A curiosity took Dowson to Nike in Oregon to study their business, to jointly set up a print-machine company while he was still playing (his peak was as a Test back-rower for England in 2012), and to try working for a bank, though he didn’t like the commuting and the absence of rugby’s quintessential teamship.
Dowson also spent time in South Africa, observing the Sharks and Bulls, and learning from Rob du Preez senior and John Mitchell – which might assuage a concern that he has never coached abroad.
Darbon, who is now chief executive of the R&A in golf, is in no hurry to see Dowson leave. “With a Saints hat on, I’d like ‘Dowse’ to build a dynasty at the club,” Darbon says. “He and the rest of his coaching group have all the attributes to ensure the side continues to evolve and to be successful at the top of the English Premiership.
“More broadly, though, Dowse has a set of skills that, if he was ever to move on, he could be really successful elsewhere.”
Under Dowson and Sam Vesty, his right-hand man as attack coach, Northampton’s distinctive style set a record of 104 tries in the Prem this season. They finished top of the table to go with their title two years ago, and last season’s Champions Cup final appearance, and Saints players could be the core of the England team for years to come.
OH MY WORD THAT WAS WORLD CLASS 😱🔥
Fin Smith breaks the line, and delivers a pinpoint kick 🎯
Tommy Freeman races there to finish for @saintsrugby in style 💨.
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— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) June 12, 2026
But is that style translatable to England, who pick from 10 clubs? Oh yes, says Jim Mallinder, the ex-Northampton Saints boss.
It was Mallinder who in 2009 signed Dowson for Saints from Newcastle, then after Dowson went to Worcester to finish playing, Mallinder brought him back as an academy transition coach, kicking off his rise to leading a Saints playing department that includes medical, strength & conditioning, recruitment and retention.
“Phil and his coaches would be capable of selecting a team [for England] who could play in this style, and we know the international game is trending towards it,” says the 60-year-old Mallinder.
“As a director of rugby, you want to see the ground packed out and people excited, but you also want to win – if you’re losing 50 points to 48, people are going to get fed up. Saints have found a winning way to do it, and it’s played all the way through the club.”
Darbon relates how Vesty’s hiring in 2018, and Dowson’s closeness to academy director Mark Hopley, and a successful plan worked out with former DoR Chris Boyd, the venerable New Zealander, were all key factors. Dowson made his staff’s offices open plan.
Mallinder admires Dowson’s personal skills, in rugby and management: “He was a forward, and abrasive, but he played a bit like a back – he’d much rather be playing touch rugby than scrummaging and rucking.
Saints players celebrate after reaching the Prem final (Photo: Reuters)
“And I always knew he was quite smart. We had good back rowers – Roger Wilson, Neil Best, as examples – so Phil was always having to fight for his place, but even if he wasn’t in the team, his motivational speaking was strong
“You’d get young players who were suddenly doing quite well, coming in with their flash cars, and Phil said to them: ‘Think about that money, your careers may be short, do you want to be putting it all in a good car?’ I remember him driving around in his [old Rover], and he was quite proud of it.”
But Dowson is no killjoy – he made sure his young squad got the most out of European trips to Bordeaux and Glasgow and Munster.
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