Ollie Sleightholme will bring up a century of appearances for Northampton Saints this weekend, as he runs out in Black, Green and Gold for the 100th time in the side’s Investec Champions Cup quarter-final trip to Bath Rugby.
The clash marks Saints’ third consecutive appearance in the quarter-finals of the competition, with Northampton having defeated Vodacom Bulls and Castres Olympique in their two previous outings in the competition’s last eight.
Northampton progressed to this stage courtesy of a thrilling 49-41 victory over Castres a week ago, and now head to face Gallagher PREM side Bath for the second time this season.
A rotated Saints outfit left the Recreation Ground victorious in December, when a hat-trick of Tommy Freeman tries sealed an impressive 21-41 win over the reigning league champions.
Sleightholme leads the side out in the knockout clash at the Rec to celebrate his milestone. The centurion is joined on Saints’ wings by Freeman for the quarter-final, with George Furbank captaining from fullback on Friday.
Rory Hutchinson provides one of six changes to Saints’ side in Bath, coming into the midfield for Northampton to partner Fraser Dingwall. Inside them, Fin Smith returns from the concussion that kept him out of the Round-of-16 clash last week to join scrum-half Archie McParland in Saints’ half-backs.
Curtis Langdon and Cleopas Kundiona bring fresh faces to Saints’ front row in Bath, with loosehead prop Danilo Fischetti staying on there this week.
Tom Lockett and JJ Van Der Mescht remain unchanged to man the second row for Northampton, while Tom Pearson returns to Saints’ back row to start at openside flanker and joins Josh Kemeny and Henry Pollock there – who start at blindside flanker and No.8 respectively.
Saints opt for a five-three bench with plenty of fire power against Bath, with the likes of Emmanuel Iyogun, Elliot Millar Mills, Callum Chick and Tom Litchfield named. And there are also some welcome returns for Northampton amongst their replacements, with Alex Mitchell and George Hendy set to make their comeback from injury at the Rec.
BATH RUGBY vs NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
Investec Champions Cup, Quarter-Final
Friday 10 April, 2026
Recreation Ground
Kick-off: 8pm
15 George Furbank (c)
14 Tommy Freeman
13 Rory Hutchinson
12 Fraser Dingwall
11 Ollie Sleightholme – 100th Saints appearance
10 Fin Smith
9 Archie McParland
1 Danilo Fischetti
2 Curtis Langdon
3 Cleopas Kundiona
4 Tom Lockett
5 JJ Van Der Mescht
6 Josh Kemeny
7 Tom Pearson
8 Henry Pollock
Replacements:
16 Craig Wright
17 Emmanuel Iyogun
18 Elliot Millar Mills
19 Ed Prowse
20 Callum Chick
21 Alex Mitchell
22 Tom Litchfield
23 George Hendy
Not available for selection:
Alex Coles, Trevor Davison, Sam Graham, Luke Green, Tom James, Henry Lumley, James Ramm, Edoardo Todaro and Charlie Ulcoq.
BATH RUGBY TEAM TO FACE SAINTS:
15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Henry Arundell, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Will Muir, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer (c); 1 Beno Obano, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Vilikesa Sela, 4 Quinn Roux, 5 Charlie Ewels, 6 Guy Pepper, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Miles Reid.
Replacements: 16 Kepu Tuipulotu, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Ted Hill, 21 Bernard van der Linde, 22 Santi Carreras, 23 Alfie Barbeary.
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ire)
Assistant referees: Eoghan Cros (Ire) and Ben Breakspear (Wal)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ire)