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Recap: Northampton vs Leicester LIVE | Gallagher Premiership

By RugbyPass
Northampton Leicester

Follow all the action on the RugbyPass live blog from the Gallagher Premiership match between Northampton Saints and Leicester Tigers at Franklin’s Gardens.

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Keep up to date with the latest score, stats and join the conversation from anywhere in the world in our Live Match Centre (click here).

A sell-out crowd is attending the 244th East Midlands derby, a fixture where Northampton have won five of their last six meetings with Tigers in all competitions.

Saints are also unbeaten in their last three league matches on home soil, but they have been dealt a huge blow in the run-up to kick-off  as Courtney Lawes, Owen Franks and Dan Biggar have all been ruled out after failing late fitness tests.

Api Ratuniyarawa comes into the second row in place of Lawes, with Alex Coles taking his spot amongst the replacements. Ehren Painter will start at tighthead prop instead of Franks, with Paul Hill coming onto the bench. And James Grayson will wear the No.10 jersey for Saints in a straight swap for the injured Biggar.

(Continue reading below…)

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Leicester, meanwhile, include all six of the club’s England World Cup squad in their starting XV. Jonny May makes his first appearance since the World Cup final, with international colleagues Dan Cole, Ellis Genge, Ben Youngs, George Ford and Manu Tuilagi also all named in Geordan Murphy’s team.

Jaco Taute plays in the Gallagher Premiership for the first time, starting at centre alongside Tuilagi, and there is also a recall for Jonah Holmes, Tom Youngs, Calum Green and Sione Kalamafoni after sitting out the European Challenge Cup win over Cardiff last weekend.

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Sam Lewis and Jordan Coghlan, who both started against the Blues, are included among the replacements this week but Hanro Liebenberg, Tommy Reffell, Will Spencer, Ifereimi Boladau, Jordan Taufua and Tatafu Polota-Nau are all ruled out.

Head coach Murphy said: “We were poor in our last Premiership outing at London Irish but it has been good for the whole squad to get two good results in Europe over the last two weeks. Now we have a tough challenge at Saints who have started the season really well.”

NORTHAMPTON: 15 George Furbank; 14 Tom Collins, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro; 10 James Grayson, 9 Cobus Reinach; 1 Alex Waller (co-capt), 2 Mikey Haywood, 3 Ehren Painter, 4 Alex Moon, 5 Api Ratuniyarawa, 6 Tom Wood, 7 Lewis Ludlam, 8 Teimana Harrison (co-capt). Reps: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Jamie Gibson, 21 James Mitchell, 22 Fraser Dingwall, 23 Ahsee Tuala.

LEICESTER: 15 George Worth; 14 Jonny May, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Jaco Taute, 11 Jonah Holmes; 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Tom Youngs (capt), 3 Dan Cole, 4 Tomas Lavanini, 5 Calum Green, 6 Harry Wells, 7 Guy Thompson, 8 Sione Kalamafoni. Reps: 16 Jake Kerr, 17 Facundo Gigena, 18 Nephi Leatigaga, 19 Sam Lewis, 20 Jordan Coghlan, 21 Ben White, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Andy Forsyth.

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Trevor 1 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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B
Bull Shark 5 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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