It was those late penalties which tilted a tight game Northampton's way. They trailed at the break despite Peter Jorgensen's early try, which owed much to the nimbleness of front rowers Tom Smith and Steve Thompson, and Budge Pountney's late one from a short line-out.
The problem was they gave away too many penalties and Barry Everitt kicked four and a drop goal in the first half.
That penalty trend was reversed in the second half and as Nigel Yates kept penalising Irish, Paul Grayson kicked four penalties, three in the final 10 minutes. Northampton were good value for their fourth win in four games since the arrival of former All Blacks coach Wayne Smith.
He was absent on Saturday, having returned to New Zealand to collect his family, but another Kiwi, Andrew Blowers, was certainly present and the flanker was the key performer among a rampaging home pack.
Dawson said: 'Irish have physically dominated a lot of teams this year and worn teams down and that's what we did to them. We were very physical up front and dominated them.'
Exactly how physical is now up to the game's new citing procedure. Don't hold your breath.
