Preview: Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs
Jamie Gibson returns to the Northampton Saints starting line-up for Friday’s Premiership clash with Exeter Chiefs at Franklin’s Gardens.
The men in Black, Green and Gold come into the game off the back of a 32-6 away win at Worcester Warriors last week, and will have a capacity crowd behind them as they take on the league leaders.
Director of rugby Chris Boyd has made just one change to his line-up, with flanker Gibson – who made his 100th Saints appearance last time out at Sixways – joining Lewis Ludlam and Teimana Harrison in the back-row.
Northampton’s side is otherwise untouched from last week’s win; Dylan Hartley and Alex Waller jointly skipper the side with Paul Hill completing the front-row, and Courtney Lawes and David Ribbans continue together in the engine room.
Tom Collins, Taqele Naiyaravoro and Ahsee Tuala make up the back three with Luther Burrell and Piers Francis in the midfield.
And after a man-of-the-match showing against Warriors, scrum-half Cobus Reinach lines up again alongside number 10 Dan Biggar – who will look to top last week’s 20-point haul against the top-of-the-table Chiefs.
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Meanwhile, Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter sticks with a largely unchanged side for the game after their victory over Saracens.
In the pack, England props Ben Moon and Harry Williams will pack down alongside Tongan hooker Elvis Taione, while Mitch Lees comes into the second-row in place of Dave Dennis. Behind, Ollie Devoto gets the nod in the centre alongside Ian Whitten in the sole change to the back division.
On the bench, the Chiefs are boosted with the return to fitness of lock Jonny Hill and centre Henry Slade, while there is plenty of back-up in the form of Luke Cowan-Dickie, Alec Hepburn, Tomas Francis, Tom Lawday, Nic White and Phil Dollman.
Form: Northampton Saints have tallied just 10 league points from their five Gallagher Premiership Rugby home games this season, only Newcastle have a poorer return at home. The Saints only defeat in their last four home games in all tournaments was 14-16 to Newcastle in Premiership Rugby on 1 December. Exeter Chiefs only defeat in the first ten rounds of Gallagher Premiership Rugby was 26-28 at Harlequins on 30 November. The Chiefs are the best away side in Premiership Rugby this season having gleaned 21 points from their five trips so far. Exeter have won their last three encounters with Saints in Premiership Rugby since Northampton’s 2019 victory at Franklin’s Gardens in September 2016.
The teams:
Northampton: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 Tom Collins, 13 Piers Francis, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Lewis Ludlam, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Dylan Hartley (cc), 1 Alex Waller (cc)
Replacements: 16 Reece Marshall, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Tom Wood, 21 Heinrich Brüssow, 22 Alex Mitchell, 23 Fraser Dingwall
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Joe Simmonds, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 Gareth Steenson (c), 9 Jack Maunder, 8 Matt Kvesic, 7 Don Armand, 6 Sean Lonsdale, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Mitch Lees, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Elvis Taione, 1 Ben Moon
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Jonny Hill, 20 Tom Lawday, 21 Nic White, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Phil Dollman
Venue: Franklin’s Gardens
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Steve Lee, Wayne Falla
Television match official: Keith Lewis