Alex Coles hands Northampton an East Midlands derby boost

England lock Alex Coles is back in full training and available for selection for this weekend’s East Midlands derby against Leicester at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

Coles has not played since suffering an ankle injury against France in the final match of England’s Guinness Six Nations campaign on March 14. His last appearance for Saints was against Sale Sharks on January 24, when he scored in the 43-29 win.

Director of Rugby Phil Dowson also allayed any fears that Coles’ fellow second-row, JJ van der Mescht, might not make it after seeming to injure himself whilst kicking the ball downfield in the nail-biting 41-38 win over Bath in Round 14. “He’s good, he’s okay.”

However, Zimbabwe tight-head Cleopas Kundiona is seeing a specialist today to try and get to the bottom of the stinger injury that he suffered to his shoulder when going down awkwardly in a scrum.

Meanwhile, utility back James Ramm is back up and running but Dowson hinted that Saturday may be too soon for the Aussie.

“We are obviously very conservative around soft tissue stuff, particularly with a winger. We are looking after James, but he is moving around and he’s on the mend.”

Back-row Tom Pearson is back in training but not full training, while hooker Curtis Langdon is still sidelined.