McParland makes 50th Saints appearance in Gallagher PREM Final

Archie McParland is set to bring up half a century of appearances for Northampton Saints this Saturday, as the men in Black, Green and Gold feature in their fourth Gallagher PREM Final. 

Losing just three league matches all term, Saints booked their place in the showpiece fixture in some style – winning 14 of their regular season clashes before downing Midlands rivals Leicester Tigers 45-31 in last week’s thrilling Play-Off fixture. 

That win secured Northampton’s place in their third major Final in as many seasons, having reached the last stage of the Investec Champions Cup a year after lifting the PREM trophy in 2024. 

Saints and Exeter’s two PREM clashes so far this season have been barnstormers, with the sides drawing 33-33 at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens on the opening day of the league campaign, before Fin Smith sealed a dramatic Saints’ win in the reverse fixture in April. 

Milestone man McParland debuted as the youngest Saint in the professional era (a record he still holds), becoming Saint #2069 at just 17 years and 222 days old back in 2022. This term has been a breakthrough one for the now 21-year-old, seeing him feature in 24 of Northampton’s outings and score an impressive 14 tries along the way. 

The scrum-half brings up his half century alongside fly-half Fin Smith in Saints’ half-back berths, who leads the way for try assists across the league this term (14) as well as holding the highest rate for successful goal kicks per 80 minutes (4.8). 

Outside them, Scotland international Rory Hutchinson and Saints’ Players’ Player of the Season Tom Litchfield reprise their roles in the midfield – with the latter providing three of Northampton’s seven tries against Tigers last week. 

Saints name an unchanged back three (who between them have scored 43 of the Club’s tries already this term) with captain George Furbank starting at fullback, while George Hendy and Tommy Freeman man Northampton’s wings. 

Emmanuel Iyogun, Curtis Langdon and Elliot Millar Mills form Saints’ front row in the Final, while Ed Prowse partners Alex Coles – one of Northampton’s standout performers in the Play-Off with 14 tackles and two turnovers – in the engine room.

Josh Kemeny, Tom Pearson and Henry Pollock complete Saints’ unchanged starting line-up as they take up their places in the back row – with the latter topping the stats in last week’s game against Leicester, as he made 110 metres from 27 carries, along with 11 tackles. 

Northampton stick with a six-two bench in the Final, with the welcome return of British & Irish Lion Alex Mitchell amongst the replacements. Elsewhere, the likes of Danilo Fischetti, JJ Van Der Mescht and Callum Chick are among Saints’ forwards cover, while Fraser Dingwall is Saints’ other backs replacement. 

Ahead of the Final, Saints’ Director of Rugby, Phil Dowson, said: “This is week 50 for this group, having started preseason back in July, and now this is the last hurdle. This is a special week and we want to make sure that we enjoy that, but also stick to our guns and rely on what’s got us to this point as a group. We want to make the occasion special and the performance normal.  

“So many finals are close affairs; we’ve had two great match-ups with Exeter already this season so I’m sure Saturday will be no different. 

“We know the quality of Chiefs. We were a long way ahead in that first game of the season and they came back at us, not too dissimilarly to how they did against Bath last weekend. The tenacity, cohesion, and belief that Exeter have has been on show throughout this season.

“The Final is a brand-new game and we’ll need to be aware of those threats, but our focus is firmly on ourselves. We know the unity of our squad is a huge strength.  

“We also know that you can train for these occasions and these environments – we’ve just got to trust that training when the pressure comes on.”

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS vs EXETER CHIEFS
Gallagher PREM Final
Saturday 20 June, 2026
Allianz Stadium, Twickenham
Kick-off: 3pm

15 George Furbank (c)
14 Tommy Freeman
13 Tom Litchfield
12 Rory Hutchinson
11 George Hendy
10 Fin Smith
9 Archie McParland – 50th Saints appearance

1 Emmanuel Iyogun
2 Curtis Langdon
3 Elliot Millar Mills
4 Alex Coles
5 Ed Prowse
6 Josh Kemeny
7 Tom Pearson
8 Henry Pollock

Replacements:
16 Craig Wright
17 Danilo Fischetti
18 Luke Green
19 JJ Van Der Mescht
20 Tom Lockett
21 Callum Chick
22 Alex Mitchell
23 Fraser Dingwall

Not available for selection:
Trevor Davison, Henry Lumley, Freddie St John, Edoardo Todaro and Charlie Ulcoq.

Referee: Matthew Carley