Northampton director of rugby, a shellshocked, Phil Dowson, admitted that he hadn’t countenanced such a heavy defeat to Bristol Bears.
He said: “The league throws up surprises like this one but I didn’t see that coming. It’s a humbling experience and just not acceptable. Nobody wants to be associated with that performance.
“We started well enough, although we didn’t convert our pressure, but after that initial period, we didn’t turn up.
“We are aware that there were chinks in our armour but they were ruthlessly exposed tonight as normally we are resilient and show fight to get back into the ...