Corry, who came off the bench in Tigers' 50-19 win, will wear the No 8 shirt against Northampton, with Will Johnson moving to the blindside position and Brett Deacon dropping down to the replacements' bench.

"Martin Corry played a few minutes on Friday night; he's fit, he's in a good condition and looking forward to the game," said Tigers head coach Pat Howard. "It was tough leaving Brett out, but I think Cozza should be given a lot of accolades as a leader for both his country and his club. He's stood up and said, 'I want to lead Tigers out in their first game'. As an England coach I'd be thinking that's the kind of leader I want in my side."

New signings Alex Moreno (tighthead prop), Leo Cullen (lock) and Shane Jennings (openside flanker) will all make their GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP debuts for Tigers, while British & Irish Lions stars Graham Rowntree and Ben Kay have been named on an extended bench.

"A lot of the other guys were chomping at the bit to play, but we looked at them as individuals, as I've been saying all along," said Howard when quizzed about the issue of playing his Lions players. "This is virtually the same side that played against Munster; it's match-hardened, it's played some rugby and we think it will get us off to a good start this season."

Utility backs Austin Healey and Leon Lloyd have been named on the bench, with England No 9 Harry Ellis starting at scrum-half and England sevens representative Dan Hipkiss starting at outside centre. The vastly-experienced Healey is set to provide cover at half-back in the absence of Scott Bemand, who suffered an ankle injury at training last week.

"Austin and Leon have both had long pre-seasons in order to get over a few injuries," said Howard. "Leon wasn't considered for the Connacht game and he had 20 minutes against Munster. I fully expect Leon to get some time at the weekend and he has a very positive influence on the squad, but at the same time I believe in Dan. I thought he played well against Munster, along with the likes of James Hamilton, Shane Jennings and Luke Abraham."

And looking ahead to Saturday's East Midlands derby, Howard concluded: "There's obviously going to be a lot of attention on Carlos Spencer, especially from a Northampton perspective, with both the press and the public. For us it's all about working off a strong base and making sure we're doing some things right out there."

Leicester Tigers team to face Northampton Saints:

15 Sam Vesty
14 Alesana Tuilagi
13 Dan Hipkiss
12 Daryl Gibson
11 Tom Varndell
10 Andy Goode
9 Harry Ellis
1 Michael Holford
2 George Chuter
3 Alex Moreno
4 James Hamilton
5 Leo Cullen
6 Will Johnson
7 Shane Jennings
8 Martin Corry (captain)

Replacements (from):

Ephraim Taukafa
Graham Rowntree
Ben Kay
Luke Abraham
Brett Deacon
Austin Healey
Ross Broadfoot
Leon Lloyd