England stars earn starts as Northampton face red hot Saracens in Friday’s big game

The 2023/24 Premiership campaign continues on Friday night with two matches on the schedule as table-toppers Northampton Saints take on defending champions Saracens and Newcastle Falcons play host to Leicester Tigers.

Northampton Saints v Saracens

Courtney Lawes will captain Northampton Saints this weekend as they welcome Saracens to cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens under the Friday night lights.

Saints remain top of the Premiership table heading into Round 14, despite a 52-21 loss at Bristol Bears last week; but with just four points separating them from fourth-placed Exeter Chiefs, Northampton must get back to winning ways if they are to remain top of the pile heading into the European break.

The men in Black, Green and Gold claimed victory when Saints last met Saracens in Round Eight, with tries from Ollie Sleightholme and Alex Mitchell and eight points from Fin Smith’s boot giving Saints the 18-10 win that day – and director of rugby Phil Dowson will be hoping to replicate that victory on Friday as he makes seven changes to his side for the visit of the reigning champions.

Curtis Langdon, Alex Moon, Tom Pearson and Juarno Augustus all return to the starting line-up in the pack, with captain Lawes the only remaining face from last week’s back-row.

England international Alex Coles joins Moon in Saints’ engine room, while Emmanuel Iyogun and Trevor Davison stay on at loosehead and tighthead prop respectively against Saracens.

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Tom James makes his return from injury to start alongside fly-half Smith in the half-backs this week, while Fraser Dingwall shifts into the starting XV to partner Burger Odendaal in midfield.

Tommy Freeman makes his first appearance in Black, Green and Gold since the end of the Six Nations, as he joins full-back James Ramm and wing Sleightholme – the league’s top try-scorer with nine tries to his name already this term – in Saints’ back three.

And there is plenty of experience amongst Northampton’s replacements, with Sam Matavesi, Lewis Ludlam, Sam Graham and Alex Waller – who announced his retirement from professional rugby earlier this week – all set to enter the action.

Meanwhile, Saracens head coach Joe Shaw says the focus has been well and truly shifted ahead of the visit to table-topping Northampton Saints after a successful return to league action at The Showdown.

Sarries moved back in to the top four following their biggest ever win over Harlequins in front of over 61,000 fans at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and now head to Franklin’s Gardens knowing a win could lift them to the top of the league in one of the most important games of the season so far.

The coaches have been boosted by a number of players who have returned from injuries over the Six Nations period, meaning they have a wealth of experience to pick from for the trip up the M1.

Jamie George starts for Saracens

Mako Vunipola, Jamie George and Marco Riccioni start in a powerful front-row, with Theo McFarland and Nick Isiekwe offering athletic ability and dynamism in the second-row.

Juan Martin Gonzalez, Andy Christie and Billy Vunipola are all given the nod in the ever-competitive battle for a back-row starting spot.

The backline is unchanged from the eight-try win over Quins last Saturday. Ivan van Zyl and captain Owen Farrell will run the game as half-backs, with Nick Tompkins and Lucio Cinti staying in the midfield.

Alex Lewington starts on the left wing, with Sean Maitland on the right and Elliot Daly will be looking for another impressive display at full-back.

On the bench there is some serious firepower to enter proceedings, with the likes of Theo Dan, Tom Willis, Ben Earl and Alex Goode all adding their quality when called upon.

The teams:

Northampton: 15 James Ramm, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Burger Odendaal, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Tom James, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Courtney Lawes (c), 5 Alex Coles, 4 Alex Moon, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun
Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Ed Prowse, 19 Temo Mayanavanua, 20 Lewis Ludlam, 21 Sam Graham, 22 Archie McParland, 23 Tom Litchfield

Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Andy Christie, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Nick Isiekwe, 4 Theo McFarland, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Christian Judge, 19 Hugh Tizard, 20 Tom Willis, 21 Ben Earl, 22 Gareth Simpson, 23 Alex Goode

Venue: cinch Stadium @ Franklin’s Gardens
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Joe James, Andrew Jackson
TMO: Ian Tempest

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Newcastle Falcons v Leicester Tigers

Newcastle Falcons centre Tom Penny will make his 100th appearance for the club as Steve Diamond makes six changes to the side which travelled to Exeter Chiefs last weekend.

Guy Pepper and Freddie Lockwood are both ruled out with head knocks picked up during the Devon clash, with Ben Stevenson sidelined after injuring his knee during a game which saw him scoring a try in the opening minute.

Phil Brantingham and Richard Palframan slot in at props for Friday’s game, with Philip van der Walt sliding back to the blindside flank in a move which sees Tim Cardall come in at lock.

Ben Redshaw starts on the left wing after scoring a length-of-the-field try for England U20s a fortnight ago in France – the Leeds native recovering from a head knock he sustained during the Six Nations title decider.

Cameron Hutchison starts at inside centre following an impressive cameo from the bench at Exeter last weekend, while Sam Cross comes in to start on the openside flank.

England U20s backs Oliver Spencer and Ben Douglas are both included on the bench, with Newcastle out for a repeat of the 45-26 victory they enjoyed the last time Leicester Tigers visited Kingston Park.

Jack van Poortvliet starts for Tigers

Meanwhile, England international Jack van Poortvliet partners Handré Pollard in the Leicester halves for the first time this season, with Will Hurd coming into the starting front row in-place of the injured Joe Heyes.

England locks Ollie Chessum and George Martin also miss out through injury while veteran prop Dan Cole is on mandatory leave after his extensive Six Nations campaign.

Tigers are also without Welsh international back-row Tommy Reffell.

Elsewhere Leicester academy graduate James Whitcombe will make his 50th appearance for the club if required off the bench.

There’s also a place for England U20 captain Finn Carnduff on the bench where Charlie Clare, James Whitcombe, Dan Richardson, Emeka Ilione, Tom Whiteley, Jamie Shillcock and Phil Cokanasiga also feature.

The teams:

Newcastle: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Tom Penny, 12 Cameron Hutchison, 11 Ben Redshaw, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart, 8 Callum Chick (c), 7 Sam Cross, 6 Philip van der Walt, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Tim Cardall, 3 Richard Palframan, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Phil Brantingham
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Murray McCallum, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 John Hawkins, 20 John Kelly, 21 Ben Douglas, 22 Rory Jennings, 23 Oliver Spencer

Leicester: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Josh Bassett, 13 Matt Scott, 12 Solomone Kata, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Olly Cracknell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Kyle Hatherell, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Will Hurd, 2 Julián Montoya, 1 James Cronin
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 James Whitcombe, 18 Dan Richardson, 19 Finn Carnduff, 20 Emeka Ilione, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Jamie Shillcock, 23 Phil Cokanasiga

Venue: Kingston Park
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Stuart Terheege

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