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| 22 January 2003, 2:20 pm |
| Big Ben Selected For 150Th Appearance For |
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Northampton Saints wing Ben Cohen, who scored a brilliant solo try against Ulster last week, will mark his 150th appearance for the club in Saturday's Powergen Cup quarter-final against Bath Rugby at The Rec. Cohen will be joined in the starting line-up by flankers Andrew Blowers and Budge Pountney, following their successful return from injury. They will start in a slightly different pack from last week's that includes former Bath academy hooker Dan Richmond and former North Harbour lock Matt Lord. Steve Williams and Steve Thompson will start the game on the bench. Also back into the side is ex-All Black Bruce Reihana, who was not registered to play in the last two games of pool six of the Heineken Cup. Saturday's game could also mark a milestone for Paul Grayson, who is two kicks away from his 500th penalty - the most by any Saints player. Northampton Saints head coach Wayne Smith said: "As last year's losing finalists, doing well in this year's competition is really important to us. We have a tough draw down in Bath, as we have only won there twice in the last 25 years. "Bath are clearly in good form, with a quarter-final win against French opposition in the Parker Pen competition behind them, so we recognise the size of the challenge. "We have a lot to work on following our game against Ulster, but the attitude is good and we will travel there to play with spirit."
Northampton Saints
15 NICK BEAL 14 BRUCE REIHANA 13 PETER JORGENSEN 12 JOHN LESLIE 11 BEN COHEN 10 PAUL GRAYSON 9 MATT DAWSON 1 TOM SMITH 2 Dan Richmond 3 MATT STEWART 4 Matt Lord 5 Rob Hunter 6 ANDREW BLOWERS 7 BUDGE POUNTNEY (capt) 8 MARK CONNORS
Replacements: 16 STEVE THOMPSON 17 Chris Budgen 18 STEVE WILLIAMS 19 Grant Seely 20 Ian Vass 21 James Brooks 22 Mark Tucker
Top penalty scorers for Saints -
Paul Grayson 498 (93/-) in 220 games John Steele 248 (88/94) in 149 games Ian Moffatt 209 (67/74) in 216 games Roger Hosen 200 (55/67) in 250 games Phil Raybold 169 (74/81) in 112 games
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