Much-linked former England star returns for Northampton’s Champions Cup clash

Round Three of the 2023/24 Champions Cup gets underway at Franklin’s Gardens on Friday night where Northampton Saints are hosting Bayonne in a highly anticipated Pool Three encounter.

Northampton Saints boss Phil Dowson has made eight changes to his side for this clash against their Top 14 opponents.

George Furbank leads the side from full-back

George Furbank captains the side from full-back in the third round of the tournament, with Tommy Freeman returning to the starting XV to join Furbank and last weekend’s hat-trick scorer Ollie Sleightholme in Saints’ back three.

Fraser Dingwall starts alongside Rory Hutchinson – who scored the match-winning try in Exeter – in Northampton’s midfield, while Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith both start in Saints’ half-backs.

Alex Waller returns from injury to pack down in the front-row alongside hooker Curtis Langdon and tighthead prop Trevor Davison, with Temo Mayanavanua and Alex Coles getting the nod in the second-row.

Courtney Lawes, who has been linked with a move to France over recent weeks, returns to Saints’ starting line-up at blindside flanker, with Tom Pearson and Sam Graham also named in the back-row (at openside flanker and number eight respectively) to complete the starting XV.

Dowson opts for a six-wo split on his bench this Friday, with the likes of Sam Matavesi, Emmanuel Iyogun, Juarno Augustus, Angus Scott-Young and Tom Litchfield all set to make an impact from amongst the replacements – while Tom James returns to the matchday squad following a suspension.

Saints, who have won 10 out of their last 11 matches in all competitions, sit at the top of Pool Three of the Champions Cup after two rounds with victories over Glasgow Warriors and Toulon keeping them unbeaten in the tournament thus far.

And Northampton will look to maintain their winning streak – which stretched to seven matches in a row after last weekend’s 36-42 triumph away at Exeter Chiefs – as they welcome Bayonne to Northampton for the first time in the club’s history.

Changes to Bayonne’s line-up

Meanwhile, Bayonne have made several alterations to their run-on side after they suffered a narrow 24-23 defeat against Bordeaux-Begles in their Top 14 match last week.

In the forwards, lock Denis Marchois continues as captain and Manuel Leindekar joins him in the second-row where he comes in for Thomas Ceyte, while there’s another change in the front-row where Facundo Bosch is the preferred hooker with Thomas Acquier dropping out of the matchday squad.

In the back-row, Rodrigo Bruni shifts from the blindside flank to number eight, with Uzair Cassiem dropping down to the bench, while Baptiste Heguy and Rémi Bourdeau are the two flankers in the run-on side.

In the backline, Cheikh Tiberghien moves from full-back to outside centre, where he takes over from Guillame Martocq, while Aurélien Callandret wears the number 15 jersey with Nadir Megdoud and Rémy Baget the starting wings.

Riko Buliruarua joins Tiberghien in midfield while Thomas Dolhagaray and Maxime Machenaud are the starting half-backs.

The teams

Northampton: 15 George Furbank (c), 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Sam Graham, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Temo Mayanavanua, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi, 17 Emmanuel Iyogun, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Alex Moon, 20 Juarno Augustus, 21 Angus Scott-Young, 22 Tom James, 23 Tom Litchfield

Bayonne: 15 Aurélien Callandret, 14 Nadir Megdoud, 13 Cheikh Tiberghien, 12 Riko Buliruarua, 11 Rémy Baget, 10 Thomas Dolhagaray, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Rodrigo Bruni, 7 Baptiste Heguy, 6 Rémi Bourdeau, 5 Manuel Leindekar, 4 Denis Marchois (c), 3 Tevita Tatafu, 2 Facundo Bosch, 1 Swan Cormenier
Replacements: 16 Vincent Giudicelli, 17 Matis Perchaud, 18 Pascal Cotet, 19 Lucas Paulos, 20 Uzair Cassiem, 21 Kleo Labarbe, 22 Tom Spring, 23 Yan Lestrade

Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Ian Kenny (Scotland), David Sutherland (Scotland)
TMO: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)

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