Sale pick Rohan Janse van Rensburg on wing for Saints trip

David Skippers

Northampton Saints director of rugby Chris Boyd has made three alterations to his starting line-up ahead of Tuesday’s Premiership clash against Sale Sharks.

Alex Mitchell, Sam Matavesi and Shaun Adendorff all come into the starting team and are the only alterations to the line-up that went down to Exeter Chiefs in last week’s Champions Cup quarter-final.

Saints will be hoping to end a frustrating run of home form in their final fixture of the 2019/20 campaign at Franklin’s Gardens, but boast a superb recent record against the Sharks on their own patch – winning 10 of the last 11 encounters between the sides at home.

Flanker Lewis Ludlam will lead out the men in Black, Green and Gold with number eight Adendorff bringing some ballast to the back-row alongside England international Courtney Lawes.

David Ribbans and Api Ratuniyarawa continue their partnership in the engine room with 19-year-old loosehead, Manny Iyogun, retained in the front-row after a breakthrough performance against Exeter – with Fiji international Matavesi and World Cup-winning All Black Owen Franks completing the pack.

Dan Biggar will hope to pull the strings from fly-half for Saints with Mitchell inside of him at scrum-half, meanwhile Rory Hutchinson and Fraser Dingwall are selected again in Northampton’s midfield.

The back three is also unchanged from the European clash at Chiefs, with Ahsee Tuala and Matt Proctor on the wings and George Furbank lining up at full-back.

The hosts’ replacements are packed with international pedigree as the likes of Nick Isiekwe, Teimana Harrison, and Taqele Naiyaravoro will all hope to make an impact from the bench.

Meanwhile, Sale Sharks have made four changes to their squad that was crowned Premiership Rugby Cup Champions last Monday, as Steve Diamond’s side prepare for the penultimate round of the regular Premiership season.

Diamond opts for an experimental line-up for the trip to Franklin’s Gardens as he looks to guide the club to their first semi-final appearance since 2006.

Loosehead prop Ross Harrison makes a timely return to action this week after straining his ankle during match-day preparations in Round 17. The club stalwart is joined in the front-row by in-form hooker Curtis Langdon and Springbok Coenie Oosthuizen.

The imposing Jean-Luc du Preez continues to impress and is joined in the second-row by fellow countryman Cobus Wiese, who made his full club debut in the Premiership Rugby Cup Final.

Captain Jono Ross resumes his usual role at blindside flanker and adds to a star studded back-row including Tom Curry at openside and Daniel du Preez at number eight.

After a man of the match performance last week, Robert du Preez secures the number 10 shirt and will have Faf de Klerk distributing inside him at scrum-half. Diamond chooses to rotate his centre options once again as Manu Tuilagi replaces Rohan Janse van Rensburg in the midfield alongside Sam James.

Janse van Rensburg remains in the Sale starting line-up, however, as the South African international takes his place on the wing. He is joined in the back three by Simon Hammersley, who moves over from full-back to the wing for only the second time in his career, to accommodate the in-form Luke James in the 15 shirt.

Form: Northampton Saints have won only once since the return to Gallagher Premiership Rugby: 27-3 at London Irish in Round 15. The Saints are in the midst of their worst ever home slump in Premiership Rugby having lost six in succession at Franklin’s Gardens. Sale Sharks’ 22-37 defeat at home to Bath in Round 20 ended a four-game winning run in Gallagher Premiership Rugby. The Sharks have won their last two away games in Premiership Rugby at Wasps and at Leicester, and are therefore going for a “Midlands treble”, but have not won three in a row on their travels in the competition since 2014. Sale’s only defeat in their last five Premiership Rugby fixtures against Northampton was 17-67 on their most recent visit to Franklin’s Gardens in February 2019. The Sharks have won just once at Northampton since 2006: 34-25 in March 2018.

The teams:

Northampton Saints: 15 George Furbank, 14 Matt Proctor, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Ahsee Tuala, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Shaun Adendorff, 7 Lewis Ludlam (c), 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Api Ratuniyarawa, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Sam Matavesi, 1 Manny Iyogun
Replacements: 16 James Fish, 17 Alex Seville, 18 Ehren Painter, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Teimana Harrison, 21 Jamie Gibson, 22 Henry Taylor, 23 Taqele Naiyaravoro

Sale Sharks: 15 Luke James, 14 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 13 Sam James, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Simon Hammersley, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Jono Ross (c), 5 Jean-Luc du Preez, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Ross Harrison
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Valery Morozov, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 James Phillips, 20 Cameron Neild, 21 Will Cliff, 22 AJ MacGinty, 23 Marland Yarde

Venue: Franklin’s Gardens
Kick-off: 17:30 BST
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant Referees: Sara Cox, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Rowan Kitt

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