Fullback George Furbank will lead Northampton Saints out this weekend as he makes his 100th appearance for the Club when Bath Rugby come to town in the Premiership Rugby Cup.
The 26-year-old made his debut in Black, Green and Gold in the Cup competition back in 2017 and will bring up a century of Saints appearances as he captains Northampton in the penultimate Pool round on Saturday (30 September, kick-off: 3pm).
Saints’ clash with Bath will be the first of two matches at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, with Loughborough Lightning taking to the hallowed turf after Saints on Saturday, kicking off at the later time of 5.15pm to face Saracens Women in the Allianz Cup.
Phil Dowson rings the changes to his starting line-up, making eight alterations to the side that lost out by a single point in the 39-38 defeat at Bristol Bears last weekend.
Chunya Munga and Tom Pearson are both set to make their Saints debuts in front of the Gardens crowd, as the pair don the No.5 and No.6 shirts respectively this weekend.
Emmanuel Iyogun, Robbie Smith and Juarno Augustus are all set to make their first starts of the season against Bath, with Trevor Davison, Alex Coles and Sam Graham all retaining their spots in the pack from last weekend.
Tom James and Fin Smith remain in Northampton’s half-back berths for the second week running, while Rory Hutchinson makes his first appearance of the 2023/24 campaign in Saints’ midfield alongside Fraser Dingwall.
James Ramm will also start his first match of the term as he mans the wings with Tommy Freeman, with centurion Furbank rounding off the starting XV behind them at fullback.
And Saints name a mixture of experience and youth on their bench, with the likes of Curtis Langdon, Paul Hill, Alex Moon, Archie McParland and Toby Thame all hoping to make an impact from amongst the replacements.
Saints will be taking the community with them onto the turf on Saturday as part of Northampton’s Community Match, as they replace their usual match socks for those from local clubs across the region. Socks from 16 clubs across Northamptonshire and beyond will be on show – pick up a matchday programme to see which club each player is representing.
Tickets for the Double Header of Northampton Saints vs Bath and Loughborough Lightning vs Saracens Women remain available, with prices starting from £20 adults / £6 child* HERE.
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS vs BATH RUGBY
Premiership Rugby Cup, Round 4
cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens
Kick-off:3pm
15 George Furbank (c) – 100th Saints appearance
14 James Ramm
13 Fraser Dingwall
12 Rory Hutchinson
11 Tommy Freeman
10 Fin Smith
9 Tom James
1 Emmanuel Iyogun
2 Robbie Smith
3 Trevor Davison
4 Alex Coles
5 Chunya Munga – Saint #2083
6 Tom Pearson – Saint #2084
7 Sam Graham
8 Juarno Augustus
Replacements:
16 Curtis Langdon
17 Ethan Waller
18 Paul Hill
19 Alex Moon
20 Angus Scott-Young
21 Archie McParland
22 Toby Thame
23 Tom Seabrook
Not available for selection:
Matthew Arden, Callum Braley, Jake Garside, Tarek Haffar, Beltus Nonleh, Burger Odendaal and Ollie Sleightholme.
International duty:
Courtney Lawes, Lewis Ludlam, Alex Mitchell (all England), Sam Matavesi and Temo Mayanavanua (both Fiji).
BATH SIDE TO FACE SAINTS:
15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Max Ojomoh, 12 Will Butt, 11 Tom de Glanville, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Ben Spencer (c); 1 Beno Obano, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Thomas du Toit, 4 Quinn Roux, 5 Charlie Ewels, 6 Ted Hill, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Miles Reid.
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 GJ van Velze, 20 Chris Cloete, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Piers Francis, 23 Abdul-Khalik Akenzua Al-Kareem.
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant referees: Alex Thomas and Mike Woods
No. 4: Frank Venner
