Northampton coach Phil Dowson: ‘I tried working for a bank – it was tough’
Saints’ director of rugby on being converted to coaching, his ‘bromance’ with Sam Vesty and why Henry Pollock is smarter than he seemsNorthampton is not the most exotic destination on the planet, but there is plenty of romance and adventure in its rugby union team.In a town famous for boot‑making you might expect kicking, as frequently and as far as possible, to be the Saints’ modus operandi.But under the director of rugby, Phil Dowson, the team in green, black and gold prefer to keep ball in hand.Despite representing a quintessentially English town, they display a panache synonymous with the greatest French exponents of champagne rugby.Since Dowson and the head coach, Sam Vesty, took over in 2022, Northampton have won what was then the Premiership and gone deep in the Champions Cup – losing to Bordeaux-Bègles in last season’s final, knocked out by Leinster in a semi-final before that.
They top the Prem table after four wins and a draw and travel to Bristol on Saturday as the only unbeaten side, seeking a first win at Ashton Gate since 2021.It would be natural to think Dowson, who played 262 top-flight matches for Newcastle, Northampton and Worcester combined, always planned to be a coach.“When I played I never seriously considered it,” he says.“But as you get older you realise how much you enjoy the game, and what the real world looks like.I spent some time at Metro Bank doing work experience.
You do the commute a few times, and it was tough – you realise what you do and don’t have,”Conversations with Dusty Hare and Jim Mallinder led to a role at Northampton,Fast-forward eight years and Dowson leads a squad increasingly crammed with internationals: Tommy Freeman, Fraser Dingwall, Alex Mitchell and Alex Coles started for England against the All Blacks two weeks ago,Henry Pollock also had a profound impact off the bench in England’s perfect autumn while Fin Smith, in time, will inherit the No 10 jersey,Is the emergence of this remarkable generation attributable to the Saints’ culture, or is it luck?“It is a bit of both,” says Dowson.
“I’d credit [the former director of rugby] Chris Boyd, who basically just threw them in, and we had some tough days,But the experience they had as a group is undoubtedly one of the reasons they are so tight and so talented,”Dowson also namechecks Mallinder, another predecessor at Franklin’s Gardens, as a major influence,“I’ve been fortunate to be coached by really interesting people,” he says,“Jim had a big impact on my career, my coaching, how I deal with people.
”Saints play attractive rugby, which proved literally true in the case of Anthony Belleau, the fly-half who joined in the summer,The Frenchman was part of the Clermont XV beaten in the Champions Cup in April when Freeman scored a hat-trick,Belleau liked what he saw enough to reverse the trend of English talent heading across the Channel,“A mate phoned me and said: ‘There’s a French 10 who’s looking for a club,’” Dowson says,“I said: ‘We don’t have money for a French fly-half.
[Thomas] Ramos will have to wait.’“‘He’s looking for experience, for the opportunity to test himself,’ my friend said.That interested me.We spoke to Anthony and his English was incredible, he was eloquent, he had a sense of humour.“We asked: ‘What do you want from this?’ He said to be coached, to be pushed, to be outside his comfort zone and outside the Top 14.
I was like: ‘Come on in, you’re a legend of a man.’ And he has been.We’re lucky to have him.”Dowson says the 20-year-old Pollock brings a specific energy.Has he coached anyone like him? “No,” Dowson replies.
“Everyone’s original but Henry is different and unique in many ways.He’s not afraid to be himself.”Pollock’s sensational try against Leinster last season illustrated his freakish ability, but some of his demonstrative on-field antics have brought accusations of arrogance.Sign up to The BreakdownThe latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewedafter newsletter promotion“He sometimes comes across as arrogant in his actions, but he’s not,” Dowson says.“And Henry’s not taking the piss the whole time.
Tactically he has input – he’s not a clown.I think sometimes it’s portrayed that he’s just this idiot.But he’s bright and good fun to have around.”Few directors of rugby would describe themselves as having a bromance with a head coach, but that is how Dowson frames his relationship with Vesty.“Sam and I share an inquisitiveness around different things,” he says.
“We have a book club.He wants to see everything, wants to know everything, wants to experience different things, and I feel like I’m the same.“We talk about lots of things outside rugby: films, books, ideas, art.When we played Stade [Français] last year, Notre-Dame was being done up, so we had a little wander around.”Another date in France is looming: Northampton’s reacquaintance with the Prem will be brief because the Champions Cup intervenes next week.
Pau, in the shadow of the Pyrenees, are up first on Sunday week before the Bulls visit a week later.“I’m not going to be arrogant enough to say: ‘We’re going to win the Champions Cup.’ But it’s a special tournament because we do things that are new,” Dowson says.“We’d never been to South Africa before.We played and won on the Highveld [against the Bulls last December] with all that heritage.
We’ve not been to Pau before.We’re going to play Bordeaux away [in January], which we haven’t done for years.“These are the exciting parts of the season when we can really get carried away with that journey.Travel, spend time, have a beer afterwards.But the bread and butter of the season, of course, is the league.
We haven’t won at Bristol for so long and we want to put that to bed.We want to stay at the top because we were so disappointingly inconsistent last season.”Short-term and long-term goals have been established.Considering Northampton’s form, the tutelage of Dowson and a dynamic, hungry playing group, it seems unwise to bet against them being achieved.
Graham Linehan cleared of harassing trans activist but convicted of damaging phone
The Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan has been cleared of harassing a transgender activist on social media but found guilty of criminal damage of their mobile phone outside a conference in London last year.The 57-year-old flew from Arizona to appear at Westminster magistrates court in person on Tuesday, where the judgment was delivered.Linehan denied harassing Sophia Brooks on social media between 11 and 27 October 2024, and a charge of criminal damage of their mobile phone on 19 October last year outside the Battle of Ideas conference in Westminster.Judge Clarke fined Linehan £500 and ordered him to pay costs of £650 and a statutory surcharge of £200. Linehan’s lawyer, Sarah Vine KC, asked that he be given 28 days to pay the full amount
Diaries, artworks and more to be auctioned from Marianne Faithfull’s personal belongings
Diaries and a gift from actor Carrie Fisher are among the personal items from Marianne Faithfull that are going up for auction in London.The musician died in January aged 78, leaving behind a cache of fascinating portraits, photographs and ephemera from a glamorous, sometimes troubled life. “Each piece tells a story and reflects her spirit and inimitable taste,” her son Nicholas Dunbar said. “It is time now for these belongings to find new homes and I hope that they will bring as much joy to their new owners as they did Marianne.”The diaries include one from 1959 when Faithfull was in her early teens, and a 1989 journal entitled Goals
Donald Glover reveals he had a stroke on Childish Gambino tour in 2024
Donald Glover, who performs under the name Childish Gambino, has revealed he had a stroke last year which forced him to cancel world tour dates.At the time the 42-year-old said he was dealing with an “ailment” after performing in New Orleans and had gone to a hospital in Houston, where he discovered he needed surgery. He subsequently postponed, then entirely cancelled the remainder of his US tour, as well as all of his UK, European and Australian dates, writing: “Unfortunately, my path to recovery is taking longer than expected.”While performing at Tyler, the Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw festival in Los Angeles on Saturday night, Glover told the audience that he’d had a stroke.“I was doing this world tour,” he said
‘He was just trying to earn a few kopecks’: how newly translated stories reveal Chekhov’s silly side
Few writers are as universally admired as Chekhov. As Booker winner George Saunders puts it, “Chekhov – shall I be blunt? – is the greatest short story writer who ever lived.” Novelists from Ann Patchett to Zadie Smith cite him as an inspiration. His plays The Seagull, Three Sisters, Uncle Vanya and The Cherry Orchard still pack out theatres internationally. In the past year alone, Andrew Scott wowed audiences in his one-man Vanya for London’s National Theatre and Cate Blanchett took on the role of Arkadina in The Seagull at the Barbican
From Wicked: For Good to Stranger Things: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead
Ariana Grande sparkles in the concluding part of the Wicked Witch tale, and the first batch of final episodes of the retro sci-fi juggernaut are unleashedWicked: For GoodOut nowWas the decision to split this Broadway musical big-screen adaptation into two parts motivated by art or money? Part two is here, so you can judge for yourself. The Wizard of Oz-inspired story picks up with defiant “Wicked Witch” Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) living in exile, while Glinda (Ariana Grande) relishes her own popularity.The Thing With FeathersOut nowMax Porter’s novel Grief Is the Thing With Feathers gets the big-screen treatment, with Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role as the dad who must raise his two young children alone after his wife dies unexpectedly. With David Thewlis as the voice of the crow who appears to him.The Ice TowerOut nowMarion Cotillard stars as a star: an actor called Cristina, who is playing the beautiful Snow Queen in a 1960s adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen classic that also inspired Frozen
From The Death of Bunny Munro to Wicked: For Good: the week in rave reviews
Matt Smith is the ultimate bad dad in a Nick Cave novel adaptation, and the Oz prequel musical reaches the end of the road. Here’s the pick of the week’s culture, taken from the Guardian’s best-rated reviewsNow & SkySummed up in a sentence A bleakly tender adaptation of Nick Cave’s novel about a hugely troubling father-and-son road trip, featuring a brilliant turn from Matt Smith.What our reviewer said “As a study in masculinity, in men handing on misery to men, deepening like a south coastal shelf as Bunny and son drive towards doom, it is as timely – for all, alas, that the book was written over a decade ago – as it is illuminating.” Lucy ManganRead the full reviewFurther reading ‘Matt Smith is so hot it’s problematic’: inside the TV version of Nick Cave’s disturbing, sex-filled novelBBC iPlayerSummed up in a sentence The documentary exposé that rocked Denmark – a mob lawyer turns whistleblower and reveals a devastating trail of corruption.What our reviewer said “It would be an understatement to say that The Black Swan made an impact on Danish viewers
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