Phil Dowson has made five changes to his Northampton Saints side to face Newcastle Red Bulls ahead of the penultimate PREM Rugby Cup pool round on Friday (20 February, kick-off: 7.45pm).
Saints sit second in the Pool B standings with a game in hand on current leaders Leicester Tigers, and head into this week’s clash knowing that they need at least six points from their final two clashes to guarantee their place in the competition’s semi-finals.
Northampton secured a stellar comeback win last time out to keep their qualification hopes alive, defeating Harlequins 24-40 at Twickenham Stoop a week ago thanks to an Archie McParland hat-trick. But having lost out in the reverse fixture against Red Bulls earlier this term – when Newcastle secured a 14-31 win – Saints will be looking to overturn that loss in Round 9.
Chunya Munga takes over the captaincy for Northampton in Newcastle, leading Saints from the second row where he is joined by one of Saints’ five changes, Ed Prowse.
Robbie Smith and Sam Graham provide two of the other edits to Northampton’s starting line-up, coming into the pack at hooker and No.8 respectively against Newcastle. Incoming Smith joins props Tom West and Luke Green in the front row, while flankers Archie Benson and Charlie Ulcoq start once again in the back row.
Tom James makes his first start of the season in Newcastle as he comes into the scrum-half position, joining fly-half Anthony Belleau – who scored 13 of Saints’ 40 points against Quins – there this week.
Saints remain unchanged at both centre and wing, with Tom Litchfield and Toby Thame starting in the midfield, while Amena Caqusau and Ollie Sleightholme are on the wings.
The final change to Northampton’s starting line-up is James Martin, who makes his second start of the season at fullback against Red Bulls.
Saints opt for a five-three bench against Newcastle, with the likes of Craig Wright, McParland and George Hendy set to enter the action at Kingston Park – while guest player Joe Cowell stays on as loosehead prop cover and Saints Under-18s’ Jack Lewis is primed for a second senior appearance aged just 17.
NEWCASTLE RED BULLS vs NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
PREM Rugby Cup, Round 9
Friday 20 February, 2026
Kingston Park
Kick-off: 7.45pm
15 James Martin
14 Ollie Sleightholme
13 Tom Litchfield
12 Toby Thame
11 Amena Caqusau
10 Anthony Belleau
9 Tom James
1 Tom West
2 Robbie Smith
3 Luke Green
4 Ed Prowse
5 Chunya Munga (c)
6 Archie Benson
7 Charlie Ulcoq
8 Sam Graham
Replacements:
16 Craig Wright
17 Joe Cowell – Guest player
18 Cleopas Kundiona
19 James Bennett – Guest player
20 Jack Lewis – Saints Under-18s
21 Archie McParland
22 Freddie St John
23 George Hendy
Not available for selection:
Emeka Atuanya, Will Glister, Curtis Langdon, Henry Lumley, and Edoardo Todaro.
International duty:
Alex Coles, Fraser Dingwall, Trevor Davison, Tommy Freeman, George Furbank, Emmanuel Iyogun, Alex Mitchell, Henry Pollock and Fin Smith (all England), Rory Hutchinson and Elliot Millar Mills (both Scotland), Danilo Fischetti (Italy), Aiden Ainsworth-Cave, James Pater, Oliver Scola, Sonny Tonga’uiha, and Jonny Weimann (England U20s), Archie Appleby (Scotland U20s).
Referee: Hamish Grant
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales and Nikki O’Donnell
No.4: Gregg Dawson