Director of rugby Budge Pountney said: “We are really pleased Colin has come back from injury so quickly. He went to see a calf specialist and along with the hard work put in by the physio staff, he has come back earlier than expected. Colin is an out and out tighthead and we were pleased with the work he did against Worcester. He has completed a couple of weeks of training so we felt the time was right to put him back in.”

Other changes to the side that beat Viadana last weekend include the reinstatement of Tom Smith, Sean Lamont, Darren Fox and Mark Robinson to their usual starting spots. Bruce Reihana also starts the game as captain.

Pountney added: “We gave Bruce a break last week to give him chill out time and to take some weight off his shoulders. He has been doing a fantastic job for us, so we thought we would pass the captaincy back over to him.

“Bristol had a great start to the Premiership. They are a tremendously committed side – they are so committed, it’s unbelievable. We are aware that we are in for a real fight in Sunday.”

Saints currently top pool one of the European Challenge Cup following their seven-try victory over Viadana. Ben Cohen, who was recalled to the England squad on Wednesday, goes into the game as the tournament’s highest try-scorer.

Northampton Saints

15 BRUCE REIHANA (capt)
14 SEAN LAMONT
13 Jon Clarke
12 DAVID QUINLAN
11 BEN COHEN
10 CARLOS SPENCER
9 MARK ROBINSON
1 TOM SMITH
2 STEVE THOMPSON
3 Colin Noon
4 DAVID GERARD
5 Damien Browne
6 Darren Fox
7 SAM HARDING
8 Daniel Browne

16 Dan Richmond
17 Chris Budgen
18 Matt Lord
19 Mark Soden
20 Johnny Howard
21 Rhodri Davies
22 John Rudd