Gargantuan wings collide as Saints host Irish

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Taqele Naiyaravoro, James Grayson and Rory Hutchinson all return to Northampton Saints’ starting XV on Friday, with director of rugby Chris Boyd making eight changes in total to the side that triumphed in Lyon last weekend.

London Irish are the visitors at Franklin’s Gardens, with the men in Black, Green and Gold desperate for a victory that would both extend their unbeaten league run on home soil, and return them to the top of the Premiership pile.

Northampton have won their last four matches in all competitions and have lost only one of their last nine league encounters with London Irish, with the Exiles winning just once at the Gardens in 15 years.

Boyd has made four changes to the pack and four to his backline with six Saints called into Eddie Jones’ England squad this week.

Teimana Harrison will lead out the side under the Friday night lights, but starts at flanker, with Mitch Eadie coming in at number eight and Tom Wood rounding off the back-row.

Alex Coles and Api Ratuniyarawa both come into the engine room for the hosts, while loosehead prop Ben Franks is the final change to the pack as hooker Mikey Haywood and tighthead Owen Franks retain their places after impressing in France.

Fly-half Grayson is selected to wear the number 10 jersey for Saints for the 11th time this season – matching his best-ever tally of starts in a campaign – with the in-form Cobus Reinach playing at scrum-half, and both Piers Francis and Hutchinson returning to Northampton’s midfield.

England U20s flyer Ollie Sleightholme keeps his place on the wing, with Ahsee Tuala switching to full-back to pave the way for Naiyaravoro to complete the hosts’ starting line-up.

Saints’ bench sees a return to action for Tom Collins following suspension, and another England U20 international in JJ Tonks gets a Premiership opportunity for the first time since October.

Meanwhile, former New Zealand international Waisake Naholo returns to the London Irish side for their clash against Northampton.

Dave Porecki starts at hooker and is partnered in the front-row by prop duo Harry Elrington and Sekope Kepu, with the latter making his first start for the club.

Franco van der Merwe, who captains the side, is joined by Australia international Adam Coleman in the second-row. Matt Rogerson and Blair Cowan start at blindside and openside flanker respectively, with Fiji international Albert Tuisue wearing the number eight jersey.

Ben Meehan and Stephen Myler combine in the half-backs, with Meehan at scrum-half and Myler at fly-half. Terrence Hepetema is named at inside centre and is joined in the midfield by Curtis Rona, who is at outside centre.

On the wing, Ollie Hassell-Collins joins Naholo in the back three, with James Stokes completing the line-up at full-back.

“Northampton are a team in good form, as shown by their position in the league table and securing qualification to the knockout stages of the Champions Cup” said Declan Kidney, Exiles director of rugby.

“We know it will be a challenge, but one that we are looking forward to.”

Form: Northampton Saints have won their last four matches in all competitions since tripping up 10-22 at Sale in Round 6. The Saints have won their last five Premiership fixtures at Franklin’s Gardens since losing there 31-40 to Gloucester in April. London Irish have lost their last seven matches in all competitions since their 27-all draw at Bristol in Round 5. The Exiles’ solitary away win in the Premiership this season was against Wasps at Ricoh Arena on the opening weekend. Northampton have lost only one of their last nine Premiership encounters with London Irish: 23-25 at Madejski Stadium on Boxing Day 2015, while London Irish’s only victory at Franklin’s Gardens in the last 15 years was by a single point in September 2011.

The teams:

Northampton Saints: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 Ollie Sleightholme, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 10 James Grayson, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Mitch Eadie, 7 Teimana Harrison (c), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Api Ratuniyarawa, 4 Alex Coles, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Mike Haywood, 1 Ben Franks
Replacements: 16 James Fish, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Ehren Painter, 19 Lewis Bean, 20 JJ Tonks, 21 Henry Taylor, 22 Andrew Symons, 23 Tom Collins

London Irish: 15 James Stokes, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Terrence Hepetema, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Albert Tuisue, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Matt Rogerson, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Franco van der Merwe (c), 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Dave Porecki, 1 Harry Elrington
Replacements: 16 Ben Atkins, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Steve Mafi, 20 Ben Donnell, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Tom Stephenson, 23 Matt Williams

Date: Friday, January 24
Venue: Franklin’s Gardens
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant referee: Anthony Woodthorpe, Andrew Jackson
TMO: Rowan Kitt

 

London Irish