Matt Dawson was a notable casualty for Northampton as they battled to a 13-13 all draw with Harlequins.

Dawson limped off after 28 minutes with a recurrence of the hamstring injury which forced him out of England's Lloyds TSB Six Nations defeat in Dublin last month.

But the incident which resulted in him leaving the ground in an ambulance occurred even earlier, an off-the-ball clash involving Bill Davison that resulted in the Quins lock being shown a yellow card with referee Dave Pearson indicating the use of an elbow.

Dawson is expected to remain in hospital overnight and if concussion is diagnosed, will miss the next three weeks - and England's entire autumn programme - no matter what damage he has sustained to his hamstring.

A clearly-angered John Steele commented, "The referee sent one of their players to the sin-bin for 10 minutes for an action which saw one of ours leave the field for good," seethed Steele.

"You think where is the justice. Are we reaching for yellows when we should be reaching for red?

"Quins came here to play a physical game. There is nothing wrong with that but the referee has to make sure the game is managed in a certain way."

Quins coach John Kingston refused to condemn his players. "I will look at the video and if anything needs dealing with internally, it will be done, but I'm not bothered by having two men yellow carded," he said. "We have had one man sin-binned this season and we have been far too nice.

"As for the Dawson incident, Bill feels he took the guy out legally. What upsets me is that the touch judge had his flag down for 30 seconds after it happened, then raised it when the crowd started to get on his back.

"I told the guys before the game that to win at Franklin's Gardens you have to be 12 points better than Northampton. You can read into that what you like."

Kingston will curse his luck after watching his side stride into a match-winning 10-point lead early in the second half, only to throw it away as Ali Hepher inspired a dramatic Saints comeback in the last 15 minutes converting his own try.

Former All Black coach Wayne Smith is expected to be installed as head of first-team affairs at a press conference on Monday, with Steele - who broke Saints' century-old trophy duck by winning the Heineken Cup two years ago - taking a sideways step.

"Keith Barwell is a very fair and shrewd man. If he makes changes it will be in the best interests of the club," he said.

"I am passionate about Northampton. It is not just about employment for me. I have been here seven years as a player and three as director of rugby. It hurts me when we don't get results.

"We are always looking at improving the playing side of the club and there will be an announcement on Monday."