Director of Rugby Chris Boyd has named his Northampton Saints side to take on Leicester Tigers this Sunday as the East Midlands Derby returns to Welford Road.
The men in Black, Green and Gold are looking to turn their fortunes around after four straight Gallagher Premiership defeats, and extend an historic run of form at the home of their bitter local rivals in the process.
Saints have won on their last three visits to Welford Road in all competitions; a sequence that has never been matched in 125 years of visiting the stadium.
Club co-captain Teimana Harrison leads out the Northampton line-up in Leicester, with Courtney Lawes and Lewis Ludlam completing an English back row of international pedigree.
Francois van Wyk, James Fish and Owen Franks will pack down in the front row for Saints, leaving Api Ratuniyarawa and David Ribbans in the engine room to round off the forwards.
Wales fly-half Dan Biggar pulls on Northampton’s No.10 jersey with Alex Mitchell starting inside him at scrum-half, meanwhile Rory Hutchinson and Matt Proctor are selected in the centres together again after impressing last weekend against Exeter.
That leaves a back three of Ahsee Tuala, Taqele Naiyaravoro and fullback George Furbank, with Emmanuel Iyogun set for his first-team debut in Black, Green and Gold if he comes off a bench which also contains the likes of Nick Isiekwe, Henry Taylor, Alex Moon and Fraser Dingwall.
LEICESTER TIGERS vs NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
Gallagher Premiership Rugby, Round 20
Sunday 13 September 2020
Welford Road
Kick-off: 2pm
15 George Furbank
14 Ahsee Tuala
13 Matt Proctor
12 Rory Hutchinson
11 Taqele Naiyaravoro
10 Dan Biggar
9 Alex Mitchell
1 Francois van Wyk
2 James Fish
3 Owen Franks
4 David Ribbans
5 Api Ratuniyarawa
6 Courtney Lawes
7 Lewis Ludlam
8 Teimana Harrison (c)
Replacements:
16 Mike Haywood
17 Emmanuel Iyogun
18 Paul Hill
19 Alex Moon
20 Nick Isiekwe
21 JJ Tonks
22 Henry Taylor
23 Fraser Dingwall
Not available due to injury:
Nick Auterac (groin), Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi (achilles), Alex Coles (ankle), Tom Collins (foot), Harry Mallinder (knee), Ollie Sleightholme (hamstring), Connor Tupai (wrist), Alex Waller (achilles), and Tom Wood (illness).
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant Referees: Sara Cox and Paul Dix
TMO: Rowan Kitt
No.4: Jamie Leahy
