Preview: Northampton v Saracens

Northampton Saints will be taking Saracens 'very seriously' for Sunday's LV= Cup semi-final at Franklin's Gardens.

Northampton will be taking Saracens 'very seriously' for Sunday's LV= Cup semi-final at Franklin's Gardens.

The contest is a match-up between two of the Guinness Premiership's top four sides and is a repeat of last season's European Challenge Cup semi-final.

Saints Director of Rugby Jim Mallinder was not taking anything for granted this week when naming his side for Sunday's game.

“Saracens are a good team,” Mallinder said.

“They know how they want to play and they've had a lot of success with it. They've got some very good players and we'll have to be at our best this weekend to beat them.

“They are very strong in the contact area in attack and defence and put a lot of pressure on you. They've also got some pacy backs out wide who are good on the counter-attack and half-backs who can put a good, structured kicking game together so we've got to be aware of those threats as well.”

The Saints have used 33 players in the LV= Cup so far this season and Mallinder is delighted with how all of them have contributed in the team's run to the semi-finals.

“The players who have come in have played well and stepped up to the mark,” he added.

“Ever since the early rounds of the LV= Cup, when we had a lot of players out playing representative rugby, the rest of the squad have all stepped up and played well. That's one of the positives for our season.

“We've seen the tournament as a way of winning some silverware and we want to win it. But first we have the semi-final and we have been fully focused on that this week.”

Meanwhile, Saracens travel to Northampton with Director of Rugby Brendan Venter calling on his team to rediscover the fighting spirit that served them so well in the first half of the season.

“We haven't been good enough and haven't shown the fight that we had in the first half of the season and we need to get that back,” said Venter ahead of the match.

“We've really played ourselves into the position as underdogs on Sunday with our form in the past few weeks but that's a position that we don't mind being in.”

In team news ahead of the game, Wikus van Heerden misses the game with a shoulder injury so Ernst Joubert captains the side. Kas Lealamanua returns to the front row with Andy Saull also returning to the starting line-up.

“Northampton are a good side and a very well rounded team,” added Venter.

“They like to run the ball up and play multi-phase rugby so we know what to expect from them. The match is a great opportunity to get to a final and to have the chance to secure Heineken Cup rugby at this stage of the season is a big carrot – just as it is to face Northampton Saints.”

Carlos Nieto, Hugh Vyvyan, Kevin Barrett and Michael Owen miss out through injury while Matias Aguero, Rhys Gill, Fabio Ongaro and Steve Borthwick are all away on international duty.

Form: Northampton Saints are in 2nd position in the Guinness Premiership, having lost just one of their last six matches in all competitions. The Saints have a formidable record at Franklin's Gardens with a run of 18 straight victories since Newcastle won there 19-13 on 28 February 2009. Northampton remain the only side with a 100% winning record in this season's LV= Cup as they aim to go one step further than last year when they were eliminated at this stage by Cardiff Blues Saracens are hot on the heels of the Saints just one place behind the East Midlanders in the Premiership table. Sarries have however slipped to three straight defeats and have not won on the road since their visit to Leeds in the LV= Cup on 29 January The two teams have already met twice this season with Saracens victorious 19-16 at Wembley Stadium in the Guinness Premiership on 12 September and Northampton triumphing 19-3 at Franklin's Gardens in the LV= Cup on 14 November. Sarries have not won at Franklin's Gardens since a 35-13 scoreline in the Premiership on 18 November 2006.

Northampton: 15 Bruce Reihana, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Jon Clarke, 12 James Downey, 11 Paul Diggin, 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Neil Best, 6 Phil Dowson (c), 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Brett Sharman, 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements: 16 Andy Long, 17 Regardt Dreyer, 18 Jon Vickers, 19 James Cannon, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Alan Dickens, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Joe Ansbro.

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Rodd Penney, 13 Kameli Ratuvou, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Derick Hougaard, 9 Neil de Kock, 8 Ernst Joubert (c), 7 Andy Saull, 6 Jacques Burger, 5 Mouritz Botha, 4 Hayden Smith, 3 Richard Skuse, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Kasiano Lealamanua.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 Alex Brown, 18 Tom Mercey, 19 Tom Ryder, 20 Justin Melck, 21 Justin Marshall, 22 Glen Jackson, 23 Richard Haughton.

Date: Sunday, March 14
Venue: Franklin's Gardens
Kick-off: 16.15 GMT
Referee: Romain Poite