Northampton Saints v Saracens: Prediction, teams, kick-off time, how to watch, milestones and referee
Northampton Saints centre Fraser Dingwall and Saracens' Owen Farrell.
Phil Dowson and Mark McCall have named their teams for the PREM Rugby round five fixture between Northampton Saints and Saracens at Franklin’s Garden on Saturday.
Saints head into the clash at the top of the table with a two-point league buffer over Saracens, with both teams boasting three wins from the opening four rounds of action.
Saints celebrations
It’s set to be a memorable fixture for Northampton Saints as captain Fraser Dingwall will earn his 150th cap for the club, with clubmates Trevor Davison and Alex Coles both making their 100th league appearance.
George Hendy has returned from injury to start at full-back for Dowson’s side, with the back-three comprising of wingers Edoardo Todaro and Tommy Freeman, the latter shifting to the wider role after featuring in the centres last week. Lions stars Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith man Northampton’s half-back berths.
Coles shifts back to blindside flanker with Tom Pearson and Henry Pollock completing an all-England loose trio, the latter packing down at number eight.
Tom Lockett and JJ Van Der Mescht combine in the engine room while tighthead Davison is starts with hooker Robbie Smith and loosehead Danilo Fischetti in the front row.
The Saints’ replacements are: Craig Wright, Emmanuel Iyogun, Luke Green, Ed Prowse, Callum Chick, Archie McParland, Anthony Belleau, and Tom Litchfield.
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Saracens team
Saracens Director of Rugby McCall has made three changes to the starting XV that put Sale to the sword last week, the first of which is in the front row, where Theo Dan replaces Jamie George at hooker, with Eroni Mawi and Marco Riccioni retained at loosehead and tighthead prop, respectively.
The starting locks are again captain Maro Itoje and Hugh Tizard, while there is a change in the loose trio as Andy Onyeama-Christie replaces Ben Earl on the one flank, whilst Juan Martin Gonzalez and Tom Willis are retained.
Charlie Bracken and Fergus Burke are the starting nine and ten again with the centre pairing retained as well in the form of Owen Farrell and Nick Tompkins.
Jack Bracken slots in on the left wing ahead of Lucio Cinti, with teenage sensation Noah Caluori on the right following his five-try heroics last week. Max Malins completes the team in the number 15 jersey.
Theo McFarland returns to bolster the bench that includes James Hadfield, Rhys Carre, Marcus Street, Nick Isiekwe, Ben Earl, Gareth Simpson, and Angus Hall.
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Northampton Saints v Saracens
Prediction: Saints by five.
Northampton Saints: 15 George Hendy, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Fraser Dingwall (c), 11 Edoardo Todaro, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Henry Pollock, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Alex Coles, 5 JJ Van Der Mescht, 4 Tom Lockett, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Robbie Smith, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Craig Wright, 17 Emmanuel Iyogun, 18 Luke Green, 19 Ed Prowse, 20 Callum Chick, 21 Archie McParland, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Tom Litchfield
Saracens: 15 Max Malins, 14 Noah Caluori, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jack Bracken, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Charlie Bracken, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Andy Onyeama-Christie, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Theo Dan, 1 Eroni Mawi
Replacements: 16 James Hadfield, 17 Rhys Carre, 18 Marcus Street, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Theo McFarland, 21 Ben Earl, 22 Gareth Simpson, 23 Angus Hall
Venue: cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens
Kick-off: 19:45
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant Referees: Harry Walbaum and Andrew Jackson
TMO: Christophe Ridley
Live on: TNT Sports
READ MORE: What Jac Morgan’s arrival would mean for Saracens…and the other Welsh option on the table