Saints v Falcons: Teams
Newcastle have made seven changes for the trip to Franklin's Gardens after their LV= Cup defeat at London Irish last week.
Last Updated: 28/10/11 4:28pm
Newcastle have made seven changes for the trip to Franklin's Gardens after their LV= Cup defeat at London Irish last week.
Head coach Alan Tait has rung the changes in the forward pack with Grant Shiells, Joe Graham and Euan Murray all starting in the front row, while Tim Swinson and Will Welch make their return.
Corne Uys will play at outside centre as he continues to impress club bosses following his recent move from South Africa.
Uys, 30, was rested for last week's outing in the capital, coming on as a second-half replacement in the closing stages of the match.
His return to the heart of the Falcons back-line sees Luke Eves move to the wing to cover for the injured Luke Fielden, who is out of action for three months with a shoulder injury.
Kiwi goal-kicking supremo Jimmy Gopperth gets the nod at fly-half with fellow countryman Jeremy Manning moving to full-back.
Ally Hogg will continue to skipper the side as James Hudson serves the last of his four-week ban.
Tait admits he has been encouraged with his side's Anglo-Welsh exploits which included a convincing victory over Cardiff Blues coupled with a decent display at Irish.
"I've learnt a lot in these last couple of weeks especially what some of the other guys can do and that is what the LV= Cup is all about," said the Scot, who guided the Falcons to the final of that competition last term.
"You have to look at your squad and give key players a rest or give players who have played a lot of rugby a rest.
"It was important to have a look at some of the other guys, and I said to a lot of them at the start of the season that playing for the Blaydon's and Tynedale's of this world during the season are important for the development of many of the guys - so that when they get the opportunity they are rugby fit.
"I think it's paid off for guys like Glen Townson and in the two Anglo-Welsh games he has done himself proud. Rikki Sheriffe has never looked out of place and Dan Frazier did well when he came on last week."
Difficult selection
Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder has made five changes to the starting XV that faced the Ospreys in LV= Cup action last week.
Jon Clarke and Tom May return to the centres with Scott Armstrong relegated to the bench, while number eight Phil Dowson is back with Roger Wilson among the replacements.
Two further changes in the pack see lock Samu Manoa come in for Mark Sorenson while prop Brian Mujati comes in, with Paul Doran Jones starting from the bench.
Nearly 30 players have featured in Saints' last three wins and Mallinder said that choosing the 23-man squad to face Newcastle had not been easy.
"Selection has been very difficult this week," he told SaintsTV this week. "We had a difficult start to the season but we've started slowly to turn it around.
"We had a good display against Exeter, a good display against Saracens a couple of weeks ago and then we carried that on against the Ospreys.
"With all the lads back from international duty and others back from injury, it's given us some good choices."
The Saints may have three wins on the trot, but they still lie ninth on the table - just four points ahead of their visitors to Franklin's Gardens - and Mallinder added that there is plenty of work to do to move the team up the league.
"We're not happy about where we are and we need to make sure it's all about Saturday and winning against Newcastle. We're ninth in the table and they're 12th, and we're desperate for wins and for points," he explained.
"Newcastle are going to come down here and give it everything they've got. We know that they've come down here in recent years, given us frights and won here. They've got some good players and we've got to make sure we're at our very best."
Northampton: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Jon Clarke, 12 Tom May, 11 Vasily Artemyev, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Phil Dowson, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Calum Clark, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Samu Manoa 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Paul Doran Jones, 19 Mark Sorenson, 20 Roger Wilson, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Scott Armstrong.
Newcastle: 15 Jeremy Manning, 14 Luke Eves, 13 Corne Uys, 12 Jamie Helleur, 11 Rikki Sheriffe, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Chris Pilgrim, 8 Ally Hogg (c) 7 Will Welch, 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Andrew van der Heijden, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Joe Graham, 1 Grant Shiells.
Replacements: 16 Michael Mayhew, 17 Ashley Wells, 18 Dan Frazier, 19 Glen Townson, 20 Redford Pennycook, 21 Jordi Pasqualin, 22 Alex Tait, 23 Greg Goosen.