On Sunday the Saints take on Worcester Warriors at Franklin’s Gardens and the Saints boss says that nothing should be taken for granted in the season opener.

“Worcester are one of the up and coming teams in England,” he said. “They finished last season strongly in the Premiership and reached the Challenge Cup final. Mike Ruddock has also brought in some high quality players over the summer. They also have a fantastic record at Franklin’s Gardens in recent years, which shouldn’t be forgotten.

“We’ve performed well in pre-season but that will not matter come Sunday afternoon. It is a massive challenge that the players and coaches are all excited about and motivated to meet. We have been working hard through the week and will give it our all against the Warriors.”

Mallinder has handed six of the summer signings their Saints debuts. Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe and Christian Day partner each other in the second row, Roger Wilson, Neil Best and Scott Gray start in the back row while England Saxon Lee Dickson wears the number nine shirt. Meanwhile out wide the game will see the return of Scotland winger Sean Lamont to Saints colours.

There are some tickets remaining for the match. Book by calling the Saints Ticket Office. The Saints Ticket Office is open until 5pm today (Friday), between 9am and 12noon on Saturday and from 9am on Sunday morning.

You can also book online 24 hours a day by following this link

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS TEAM TO PLAY WORCESTER WARRIORS
Guinness Premiership Round 1
Franklin’s Gardens
Sunday, September 7th, 2008
Kick off 1:30pm
15 Bruce Reihana (capt)
14 Chris Ashton
13 Jon Clarke
12 James Downey
11 Sean Lamont
10 Carlos Spencer
9 Lee Dickson
1 Soane Tonga’uiha
2 Paul Shields
3 Euan Murray
4 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe
5 Christian Day
6 Neil Best
7 Scott Gray
8 Roger Wilson

Replacements
16 Dylan Hartley
17 Tom Smith
18 Alex Rae
19 Mark Hopley
20 Ben Foden
21 Stephen Myler
22 Joe Ansbro