Northampton v Saracens: Courtney Lawes leads Saints in final home match as Premiership holders load squad with 20 internationals
Northampton Saints flanker Courtney Lawes against Saracens.
Premiership table toppers Northampton Saints will face Saracens in the opening semi-final on Friday in what promises to be a titanic clash at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens.
Courtney Lawes will captain Northampton in his final outing on home soil as the Saints feature in their third consecutive Premiership semi-final – and their 12th appearance at this stage of the competition in the club’s history.
Alex Waller and Alex Moon will also be featuring in their final Franklin’s Gardens clash amongst Saints’ starting XV, with Lewis Ludlam set to make his final home bow from amongst the hosts’ replacements.
377th outing for Waller
Hooker Curtis Langdon and tighthead prop Trevor Davison join Waller in the front-row against Saracens – as the loosehead makes his 377th appearance in Black, Green and Gold.
Moon partners Alex Coles at lock, while Tom Pearson returns to the Northampton starting line-up to join captain Lawes and number eight Juarno Augustus in the back-row.
Alex Mitchell – who has assisted more tries than any other player in the Premiership this season (11) – starts at scrum-half for Saints, while the league’s second-highest points-scorer Fin Smith (132) is named at fly-half.
Fraser Dingwall and Burger Odendaal partner in the centres against Saracens, while George Furbank starts at full-back for the 17th time this season for Northampton.
The league’s top try-scorer, Ollie Sleightholme (14), and Tommy Freeman – who has made the joint-most clean breaks in the Premiership (26) – are named on Saints’ wings to complete the XV.
Saints opt for a 6-2 bench for the semi-final clash, with the likes of Sam Matavesi, Emmanuel Iyogun, Temo Mayanavanua, Sam Graham and George Hendy all set to enter the action at the Gardens.
Meanwhile, Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall has named a side packed with experience, featuring 20 internationals in the matchday squad as they look to take a stride towards what could be a seventh Premiership title.
Mako Vunipola, Jamie George and Marco Riccioni start in the front-row and will be crucial at scrum time, with Maro Itoje and Nick Isiekwe combining in a dynamic second-row.
Juan Martin Gonzalez, Ben Earl and Billy Vunipola will be at the base of the scrum and will look to give the backs some much-needed front foot ball under the floodlights.
Ivan van Zyl and captain Owen Farrell start as half-backs, with Nick Tompkins and Lucio Cinti continuing in the midfield.
The back three of Tom Parton, Alex Lewington and Elliot Daly will need to be clinical against the formidable Saints defence.
On the bench the likes of Theo Dan, Theo McFarland and Tom Willis will look to stamp their authority on the game, and there is a huge injury boost as Alex Lozowski returns to the squad for the first time since November.
Unfortunately Rotimi Segun, Sean Maitland and Alex Goode have all been ruled out of the semi-final with season-ending injuries.
The teams
Northampton Saints: 15 George Furbank, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Burger Odendaal, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Courtney Lawes (c), 5 Alex Coles, 4 Alex Moon, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi, 17 Emmanuel Iyogun, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Temo Mayanavanua, 20 Sam Graham, 21 Lewis Ludlam, 22 Tom James, 23 George Hendy
Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Tom Parton, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Nick Isiekwe, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Hugh Tizard, 20 Theo McFarland, 21 Tom Willis, 22 Aled Davies, 23 Alex Lozowski
Venue: cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens
Kick-off: 19:45 BST
Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant Referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Andrew Jackson
TMO: Ian Tempest
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