Northampton v Leeds: Teams
Northampton have opted to rotate their squad for the crunch Premiership clash with Leeds at Franklin's Gardens.
By Tony Curtis - Twitter: @SkySportsTC
Last Updated: 06/05/11 4:13pm
Northampton have opted to rotate their squad for the crunch Premiership clash with Leeds at Franklin's Gardens.
Despite needing a positive result to be guaranteed of a place in the end-of-season play-offs, Saints boss Jim Mallinder has dropped Dylan Hartley, Soane Tonga'uiha, Courtney Lawes, Calum Clark, Lee Dickson and Stephen Myler to the bench.
There is still plenty of quality in the Northampton side, though, with Ben Foden, Chris Ashton, Joe Ansbro and Phil Dowson all included.
And with Leeds fighting for survival at the bottom - and needing to secure two more points than Newcastle manage from their clash with Bath - Mallinder insists he is not taking Carnegie for granted.
"It's a massive game for us tomorrow," Mallinder said. "At the moment we still have things in our own hands, but the only way it will stay like that is if we get a positive result against Leeds.
Problems
"The players all know that and it hasn't been difficult to motivate them in training this week. We enjoyed the win over Perpignan, but when we came back to work this week all of the attention was focused on what we need to do to beat Leeds.
"They caused us plenty of problems when we played them at Headingley in March, and we know that they will be fighting for every point themselves. Our recent game at Kingston Park showed how difficult it can be to play a team in that position and we are prepared for a battle right from the first whistle."
Leeds head coach Neil Back has made a number of changes to his line-up for the critical encounter.
Back has made five changes of personnel, as well as a handful of positional switches, as he looks to seal the great escape.
Alfie To'oala, Mike MacDonald, Juan Gomez, Peter Wackett and Scott Barrow are handed starting spots, while Kearnan Myall moves to the second row, Rhys Oakley starts in the No.6 jersey and Michael Stephenson switches to full-back.
There is also a first call-up onto the bench for former England Sevens international Uche Oduoza, with the former Worcester and Newcastle player having impressed playing for the A team.
Northampton: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Joe Ansbro, 12 James Downey, 11 Paul Diggin, 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Stuart Commins, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Phil Dowson (capt), 6 Mark Easter, 5 Christian Day, 4 Mark Sorenson, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Brett Sharman, 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Soane Tonga'uiha, 18 Tom Mercey, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Calum Clark, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Bruce Reihana.
Leeds Carnegie: 15 Michael Stephenson, 14 Lee Blackett, 13 Henry Fa'afili, 12 Scott Barrow, 11 Peter Wackett, 10 Adrian Jarvis, 9 Scott Mathie, 8 Alfie To'oala, 7 Hendre Fourie, 6 Rhys Oakley, 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 Daniel Browne, 3 Juan Gomez, 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Mike MacDonald.