Three of Northampton Saints' biggest stars pulled from midlands derby

Three of Northampton Saints’ biggest stars have been pulled from their midlands derby with Leicester at the last minute.

Courtney Lawes, Owen Franks and Dan Biggar have all been ruled out of this afternoon’s East Midlands Derby clash for Northampton Saints, 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.

Revised team:

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)

Replacements: 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