Alex Coles will make his 100th appearance for Northampton Saints on Saturday (30 December, kick-off: 3.05pm), as Sale Sharks head to a sold-out cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens.
The 24-year-old – who debuted for Northampton in the Premiership Rugby Cup back in 2018 – will lead Saints out in Round 10 of the Gallagher Premiership, becoming the 226th Saint to hit a century of appearances for the Club.
Meanwhile centre Burger Odendaal is set make his debut in Black, Green and Gold after a long-term injury lay-off, when second-placed Sharks face third-placed Saints in a blockbuster festive fixture.
Director of Rugby Phil Dowson rings the changes for the Club’s final clash of 2023, with eight edits to the starting XV that downed Gloucester Rugby 31-29 on the road before Christmas, as Saints go in search of their sixth win in a row.
George Furbank will follow centurion Coles out of the tunnel on Saturday as he captains Northampton, joining wingers Ollie Sleightholme and Tommy Freeman in Saints’ back three.
Debutant Odendaal partners Rory Hutchinson in Northampton’s midfield, while half-backs Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith partner up for the seventh time this season and will look to pull the strings for Saints.
Alex Waller returns from injury to start in a new-look front row for the hosts, joining hooker Sam Matavesi and tighthead prop Trevor Davison there.
Juarno Augustus makes his first start of the season at No.8 against Sale, and he is joined by flankers Angus Scott-Young and Tom Pearson in the back row, while Coles partners Chunya Munga in Saints’ engine room.
Dowson opts for a six-two split on his bench, with the likes of Curtis Langdon, Alex Moon, Courtney Lawes, Sam Graham and last week’s match-winning try-scorer Tom Litchfield all primed to make an impact from amongst the replacements.
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS vs SALE SHARKS
Gallagher Premiership, Round 10
Saturday 30 December, 2023
cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens
Kick-off: 3.05pm
15 George Furbank (c)
14 Tommy Freeman
13 Burger Odendaal – Debut: Saint #2088
12 Rory Hutchinson
11 Ollie Sleightholme
10 Fin Smith
9 Alex Mitchell
1 Alex Waller
2 Sam Matavesi
3 Trevor Davison
4 Chunya Munga
5 Alex Coles – 100th Saints appearance
6 Angus Scott-Young
7 Tom Pearson
8 Juarno Augustus
Replacements:
16 Curtis Langdon
17 Tarek Haffar
18 Paul Hill
19 Alex Moon
20 Courtney Lawes
21 Sam Graham
22 Callum Braley
23 Tom Litchfield
Not available for selection:
Fraser Dingwall, George Hendy, Tom James (suspended), Lewis Ludlam, Joel Matavesi, James Ramm, Tom Seabrook and Robbie Smith.
SALE TEAM TO FACE SAINTS:
15 Joe Carpenter , 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Sam James, 12 Rob du Preez, 11 Arron Reed, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr; 1 Ross Harrison, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3 Nick Schonert, 4 Cobus Wiese, 5 Jonny Hill, 6 Ernst van Rhyn, 7 Ben Curry (c), 8 Jean-Luc du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Tommy Taylor, 17 Tumy Onasanya, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Nye Thomas, 22 Luke James, 23 Telusa Veainu.
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Craig Maxwell-Keys and Peter Allen
No. 4: James Clarke
TMO: David Rose
