Premiership | Northampton Saints v Wasps line ups, stats and more

August 14, 2020
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Ultimate Rugby

Round 14 concludes with a mouth-watering clash as Northampton Saints host Wasps at Franklin’s Gardens.

Adding to the spice of the encounter is the fact that the last time the two teams met – on 5 January, Round 8 – Northampton snatched a narrow victory (35-31) in Wasps’ backyard.

This, coupled with the teams’ respective positions on the log makes for an interesting prospect.

Saints are currently only two points ahead of the 5^th placed Wasps, leaving the latter with a golden opportunity to exact revenge on and leap-frog their opponents in the overall standings.

A win for Saints could mean a break into the top three should Saracens prove too much for Bristol Bears.

All in all, there is much to play for in this one and there can be no doubt that both teams will be fired up and raring to go after a long break from the game.

Team News

Chris Boyd has named his matchday 23 to take on Wasps on Sunday, with Northampton Saints’ league campaign finally set to resume after 163 days without rugby. The men in Black, Green and Gold won 16-10 away at Worcester on their last Gallagher Premiership outing before the unexpected hiatus, and boast a good recent record against this weekend’s opponents – winning two of the last three meetings in the league between the two.

Club co-captain Teimana Harrison leads out Northampton at Franklin’s Gardens in the No.8 jersey and is joined at the back of the scrum by England’s Courtney Lawes and Lewis Ludlam, to create a back row of international pedigree. David Ribbans makes his first appearance since January having recovered from an ankle injury which kept him out for three months at the start of the year, and is joined in the engine room by Fijian international lock Api Ratuniyarawa.

Meanwhile, hooker Mikey Haywood will run out alongside props Paul Hill and Francois van Wyk to round off Saints’ pack. Wales fly-half Dan Biggar starts in the No.10 jersey for the hosts with Alex Mitchell stepping up to start at scrum-half alongside him hoping to pull the strings for Northampton, while English duo Piers Francis and Fraser Dingwall are selected in the midfield.

And Boyd has opted for a versatile back three, with Harry Mallinder and Ahsee Tuala starting on the wings and George Furbank at fullback, to create a trio capable of filling in across the park.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing the boys get back out there finally,” said Boyd. “There will obviously be lots of energy and enthusiasm – whether they can play consistently at the pace that will be required will be the interesting bit.

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS vs WASPS

15 George Furbank
14 Harry Mallinder
13 Fraser Dingwall
12 Piers Francis
11 Ahsee Tuala
10 Dan Biggar
9 Alex Mitchell

1 Francois van Wyk
2 Mikey Haywood
3 Paul Hill
4 David Ribbans
5 Api Ratuniyarawa
6 Courtney Lawes
7 Lewis Ludlam
8 Teimana Harrison (c)

Replacements:

16 Sam Matavesi
17 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi
18 Owen Franks
19 Alex Coles
20 JJ Tonks
21 Henry Taylor
22 Matt Proctor
23 Taqele Naiyaravoro

Not available due to injury
Ollie Sleightholme (hamstring), Connor Tupai (wrist), Alex Waller (achilles), and Tom Wood (illness).

Wasps

Lee Blackett has named his first side as full-time Head Coach, as Wasps travel to Northampton Saints on Sunday in Round 14 of the Gallagher Premiership.

There are two potential debutants in the 23, as Ben Vellacott and Ryan Mills are named amongst the replacements.

Wasps team to face Northampton Saints this Sunday in the return of the Gallagher Premiership at Franklin’s Gardens (kick-off 3:00pm)

Wasps (First-team appearances)

15 Matteo Minozzi (9)

14 Zach Kibirige (17)

13 Malakai Fekitoa (15)

12 Jimmy Gopperth (96)

11 Josh Bassett (119)

10 Jacob Umaga (21)

9 Dan Robson (115)

1 Ben Harris (59)

2 Tommy Taylor (65)