Northampton Saints will look to boost their Premiership play-off prospects when they face struggling Newcastle Falcons on Friday.
In team news for the Falcons, Alex Tait is set to make one last appearance at Kingston Park Stadium as Newcastle play their final home game of the season.
Tait is named among the replacements, with the full-back poised to add to his 269 appearances before retiring at the end of the campaign.
Newcastle make three changes to the side which started at Harlequins last weekend – fit-again Argentina international Matias Orlando starting in the centres with Ben Stevenson ruled out by a head knock.
Logovi’i Mulipola packs down at loosehead prop, with Freddie Lockwood added to the back-row after scoring from the bench last time out. Philip van der Walt and Tom Penny are both on the bench after recovering from hand and ankle injuries respectively.
The Falcons were on the wrong end of a 32-31 thriller when they faced Northampton in league action earlier in the season, with another full-blooded encounter expected.
Two changes from Northampton
Meanwhile, Northampton Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson has made two changes to his side which will travel to the Falcons.
The men in Black, Green and Gold will be desperate for a second straight victory after last weekend’s win over Saracens, to keep themselves ahead of London Irish in the race for the Premiership play-offs.
Saints have won just once on the road in the league this term, but have lost only one of their last five fixtures against the Falcons in the Premiership, and beat Newcastle by a single point (32-31) earlier this term on home soil.
Tom Collins comes in to start on the wing for Northampton for the 12th time this season, replacing the injured James Ramm in the back three. George Furbank continues at full-back with Tommy Freeman – who has scored in four of his past five Premiership appearances – selected on the other wing.
Dowson opts for an unchanged midfield pairing for Northampton, with Fraser Dingwall (winner of the Club’s Supporters’ Player of the Season Award on Wednesday evening) and Rory Hutchinson named in the centres, while Fin Smith and Alex Mitchell keep their places in the half-back berths.
There’s just one change in the pack as Paul Hill starts at tighthead prop after coming off the bench last weekend, with hooker Sam Matavesi and loosehead Alex Waller rounding off the front-row.
To the North East ↗️
Here are your Saints to play Newcastle.
🎟️ https://t.co/Ah10HhrMLl pic.twitter.com/tFQ8EL6oA7
— Northampton Saints 😇 (@SaintsRugby) April 20, 2023
The engine room pairing of David Ribbans and Alex Moon continue for the third straight match, and Courtney Lawes and captain Lewis Ludlam join number eight Juarno Augustus in the back-row.
Northampton opt for a 6-2 split amongst the replacements, with the likes of Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Angus Scott-Young, and Sam Graham set to bring some ballast off the bench.
Form: Newcastle Falcons’ only victory in their last six Premiership Rugby matches was 17-12 at home to Gloucester on 24 March. The Falcons’ only defeat at Kingston Park in their last five Premiership matches was 19-34 to London Irish in Round 19. Northampton Saints’ last six encounters in the Premiership have all been won by the home side on the day. The Saints have won just once on the road in the league since Round 5, 19-18 at Leicester on 28 January. Northampton have lost only one of their last five fixtures against Newcastle in Premiership Rugby: 10-18 at Kingston Park in May 2021.
Click Here: Crusaders rugby store
The teams:
Newcastle: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Matias Orlando, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Michael Young (c), 8 Callum Chick, 7 Freddie Lockwood, 6 Pedro Rubiolo, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Mark Tampin, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Logovi’i Mulipola
Replacements: 16 Conrad Cade, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Conor Kenny, 19 Philip van der Walt, 20 Carl Fearns, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Tom Penny, 23 Alex Tait
Northampton: 15 George Furbank, 14 Tom Collins, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Tommy Freeman, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Lewis Ludlam (c), 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Alex Moon, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Sam Matavesi, 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Alfie Petch, 19 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 20 Angus Scott-Young, 21 Sam Graham, 22 Tom James, 23 Tom Litchfield
Date: Friday, April 21
Venue: Kingston Park
Kick-off: 19:45 BST (18:45 GMT)
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce, Adam Leal
TMO: Stuart Terheege