Northampton change entire XV for the visit of Bath, who include long-term absentee Max Clarke
Northampton will line up against Bath on Wednesday with a completely fresh starting XV, as Chris Boyd rotates his side for the vital Gallagher Premiership clash. The Saints director of rugby is putting his faith in Northampton’s entire squad during this demanding block of fixtures with their top-four hopes in the balance.
Loosehead prop Nick Auterac is poised for his full debut since making the switch to Northampton from Harlequins, lining up in the front row with hooker James Fish and tighthead Owen Franks, while locks David Ribbans and Api Ratuniyarawa complete the tight five.
Club co-captain Teimana Harrison will lead out Saints at No8 jersey on a back row also featuring Courtney Lawes and JJ Tonks both starting in the flanker berths. Dan Biggar returns at No10 with scrum-half Henry Taylor by his side.
Harry Mallinder starts at full-back, with Ahsee Tuala – who scored a spectacular try against London Irish last time out off the bench – and Taqele Naiyaravoro on the wings. English duo Piers Francis and Fraser Dingwall round off the starting XV.
Bath have also made a raft of changes. After scoring his maiden Premiership try last time out versus Leicester, Tom de Glanville comes in for Anthony Watson at full-back in a team that sees Max Clark return from a long-term injury. The centre returns to the starting XV for the first time since the opening day of the 2019/20 Gallagher Premiership campaign in October.
A fabulous finish… and what about that pass from James Grayson 🙌https://t.co/ztTsZzf5nE
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 22, 2020
Gabriel Hamer-Webb will make his first appearance since facing Ulster away in the final round of the European Champions Cup, replacing Ruaridh McConnochie, who is named as a replacement. Josh Matavesi swaps in for Rhys Priestland, who is named on the bench, and will form a new partnership with Will Chudley, who replaces Ben Spencer at scrum-half.
Beno Obano, Jack Walker and Christian Judge all come in to make up a new front row partnership with Bath Rugby changing the entire forward pack. Will Spencer makes his second debut for the club, having re-joined in June from Leicester Tigers.
A notable return to the bench sees Miles Reid back into the fold having recovered from an ACL tear on the very first day of the season against Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park in the Premiership Rugby Cup.
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS: 15. Harry Mallinder; 14. Ahsee Tuala, 13. Fraser Dingwall, 12. Piers Francis, 11. Taqele Naiyaravoro; 10. Dan Biggar, 9. Henry Taylor; 1. Nick Auterac, 2. James Fish, 3. Owen Franks, 4. David Ribbans, 5. Api Ratuniyarawa, 6. Courtney Lawes, 7. JJ Tonks, 8. Teimana Harrison (capt). Reps: 16. Sam Matavesi, 17. Francois van Wyk, 18. Ehren Painter, 19. Lewis Bean, 20. Tui Uru, 21. Tom James, 22. Rory Hutchinson, 23. Tommy Freeman.
BATH: 15. Tom de Glanville; 14. Semesa Rokoduguni, 13. Max Clark, 12. Cameron Redpath, 11. Gabriel Hamer-Webb; 10. Josh Matavesi, 9. Will Chudley; 1. Beno Obano, 2. Jack Walker, 3. Christian Judge, 4. Will Spencer, 5. Elliott Stooke, 6. Mike Williams, 7. Josh Bayliss (capt), 8. Zach Mercer. Reps: 16. Tom Dunn, 17. Lewis Boyce, 18. Will Stuart, 19. Charlie Ewels, 20. Miles Reid, 21. Ben Spencer, 22. Rhys Priestland, 23. Ruaridh McConnochie.
"Many Northampton fans didn’t want me & were very outspoken. They assumed I was on mega wedge, not the academy contract that I essentially signed"@jameshaskell on hateful fan sites, I'm a Celebrity edits screwing him; MMA, BLM & more w/@heagneyl 👨💻https://t.co/9SsEeGT790
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 16, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments