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Phil Dowson, the Northampton Saints director of rugby, was left counting the cost of three key injuries after his side secured a gutsy 21-17 win over Saracens at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The league leaders prevailed thanks to a late try from scrum half Archie McParland having endured significant disruption during the course of the contest as England trio Fin Smith, Emmanuel Iyogun and Trevor Davison were all forced off.
Fly half Smith failed a head injury assessment in the first half and prop Iyogun also failed to make it to the interval after suffering a back spasm.
Tighthead Davison, meanwhile, was helped off having been introduced as a substitute and Dowson feared he could be without the 33-year-old for the foreseeable future.
“Trevor Davison looked pretty bad with an ankle/knee,” the Northampton boss admitted. “He’s being fairly stoic in not saying much about it, but obviously we’ll scan it and see how he is. Obviously he’d be a huge loss because of the impact he has on our squad.”
Northampton are already without the trio’s fellow England squad members Alex Mitchell and Alex Coles, while injuries to Edoardo Todaro and George Hendy have depleted the outside back division.
Smith appears likely to miss Friday night’s Investec Champions Cup last-16 clash with Castres, leaving Dowson with a decision to make between George Furbank and Anthony Belleau at No 10. The former filled in after the fly half’s departure against Saracens, while the Frenchman has impressed this season.
One of the pair is likely to partner the 21-year-old McParland in the halves after another excellent showing from the youngster, who scored twice and saved a try with a strong tackle on Theo Dan.
Dowson believes his development and the wider depth of the squad will be key over the next few weeks.
“Archie is incredibly driven,” Dowson said. “He pushes himself incredibly hard, he’s one of the most conscientious and professional people here. I’m loving the fact that a lot of that hard work is coming to fruition in the game.
“I think that is the name of the game: creating that strength in depth, making sure you have a lot of guys that can step in whether it is through injury or fatigue. That is what we are going to have to do in rotating the squad to make sure we manage bodies and people.
“Our model is built around developing people and trying to make them better. [Head coach] Sam Vesty is incredibly good at that, and we see the fruits of that labour frequently. Archie is definitely one of those guys.”
Northampton top the table by six points from Bath, who play on Sunday at Sale.
