Following a short turnaround after a physical East Midlands derby the Saints coaches have used Thursday’s game as an opportunity to freshen the team during what is an intense run of matches that includes Aviva Premiership clashes against Leicester, Saracens, Bath and Sale and the LV= Cup semi-final and final.
Seven replacements from last Saturday have stepped up into the starting line-up, and while Dylan Hartley is unavailable due to injury the Saints welcome back forward Sam Dickinson and centres Tom Stephenson and Dom Waldouck into the 23-man match day squad.
Samoan international Fa’atoina Autagavaia returns to the wing for his first action since the LV= Cup final two-and-a-half weeks ago, as do hooker Ross McMillan and flanker Ben Nutley, while England Under-20 international Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi has been included on the bench.
The team is captained by Phil Dowson.
Thursday’s game is being shown live on Sky Sports 2, with live text commentary wherever you are at www.saintslive.co.uk
And you can hear the thoughts of forwards coach Dorian West, Lee Dickson and James Craig right now on the Saints’ official podcast, along with interviews with George Pisi and Adam Parkins. Download or stream for free on any device by CLICKING HERE
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS TEAM TO PLAY SALE
Amlin Challenge Cup Quarter Final
AJ Bell Stadium
Thursday, April 3rd, 2014
Kick off 8:00pm
15 Ben FODEN
14 Ken PISI
13 James WILSON
12 Tom STEPHENSON
11 Fa’atoina AUTAGAVAIA
10 Will HOOLEY
9 Lee DICKSON
2 Ross MCMILLAN
3 Tom MERCEY
4 Sam DICKINSON
5 James CRAIG
6 Phil DOWSON (capt)
7 Ben NUTLEY
8 GJ VAN VELZE
Replacements
16 Matt WILLIAMS
17 Danny HOBBS-AWOYEMI
18 Gareth DENMAN
19 Christian DAY
20 Teimana HARRISON
21 Kahn FOTUALI’I
22 Dom WALDOUCK
23 Jamie ELLIOTT
