Preview by James Logan
Northampton Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson says the squad are excited for yet another big European game at the Gardens, but they will “need to fire on all cylinders” if they are to get a result.
The Saints have the chance to make it three wins out of three in this season’s Investec Champions Cup, welcoming Top 14 side Aviron Bayonnais, known as Bayonne, on Friday night (8pm, January 12).
Northampton Saints currently top the domestic table, but Dowson understands that this weekend’s opponents are not to be under-estimated.
He said: “It’s another massive challenge, so much quality in their group (Bayonnais) and we are looking forward to measuring up against them.
“They’ll be disappointed about where they are in the league considering the quality of their players they have in their group and at different times they’ve been unlucky.
“And they were unlucky again at the weekend against Bordeaux and they have some world-class talent, and we are going to be on our metal as they can change a game at the turn of a hat.”
The men in Green, Black and Gold currently sit top of pool 3 following back-to-back wins against Toulon and Glasgow, home and away respectively.
With a chance to qualify for the European knockouts for the first time since 2016, Northampton will need to rely on big players stepping up.
Northampton Saints and England back row Tom Pearson is just one player who has relished the opportunities since arriving in the Midlands from London Irish last summer.
He said: “Northampton’s been great in helping me, I just want to keep putting in good performances out on the pitch as the competition is very strong.
“There are a lot of good young players, so I need to continue to keep playing well, impress on the pitch and keep winning at Saints because it looks good if you are winning as a team.”
Northampton were impressive last weekend in their 42-36 win away at Exeter coming from 26 points down to the Chiefs, although they will need to make a better start than last week.
Dowson said: “It’s very hard to put your finger on a single thing.
“But you’ve got to credit Exeter on how they start and how they start frequently at home.
“We were aware of that, and we couldn’t deal with that.”
Dowson spoke openly about his side’s second-half performance crediting the character of those who came off the bench to make such a distinct impact.
He said: “It says a lot about the maturity and confidence of the players, and it sounds ridiculous, but the coaching team were quite relaxed.”
“At least a lot more relaxed than when we actually started to score tries.”
The home side will still be without a raft of players on Friday night, Lewis Ludlam, James Ramm and George Hendy amongst those still sidelined through injury, as announced by Dowson.
George Furbank captains the side from fullback in the third round of the tournament, with Tommy Freeman returning to the starting XV to join Furbank and last weekend’s hat-trick scorer Ollie Sleightholme in Saints’ back three.
Fraser Dingwall starts alongside Rory Hutchinson – who scored the match-winning try in Exeter – in Northampton’s midfield, while Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith both start in Saints’ half-backs. Saints welcome Bayonne to Northampton for the first time in the Club’s history.
Alex Waller returns from injury to start in the front row alongside hooker Curtis Langdon and tighthead prop Trevor Davison, with Temo Mayanavanua and Alex Coles packing down behind them in the second row.
Courtney Lawes – who claimed the Gallagher Premiership Player of the Month award for December earlier this week – returns to Saints’ starting line-up at blindside flanker against Bayonne, with Tom Pearson and Sam Graham also named in the back row (at openside flanker and No.8 respectively) to complete the starting XV.
Dowson opts for a 6-2 split on his bench this Friday, with the likes of Sam Matavesi, Emmanuel Iyogun, Juarno Augustus, Angus Scott-Young and Tom Litchfield all set to make an impact from amongst the replacements – while Tom James returns to the matchday squad following a suspension.
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS vs AVIRON BAYONNAIS
Investec Champions Cup, Round 3
Friday 12 January, 2024
cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens
Kick-off: 8pm
15 George Furbank (c)
14 Tommy Freeman
13 Fraser Dingwall
12 Rory Hutchinson
11 Ollie Sleightholme
10 Fin Smith
9 Alex Mitchell
1 Alex Waller
2 Curtis Langdon
3 Trevor Davison
4 Temo Mayanavanua
5 Alex Coles
6 Courtney Lawes
7 Tom Pearson
8 Sam Graham
Replacements:
16 Sam Matavesi
17 Emmanuel Iyogun
18 Elliot Millar Mills
19 Alex Moon
20 Juarno Augustus
21 Angus Scott-Young
22 Tom James
23 Tom Litchfield
Not available for selection:
George Hendy, Paul Hill, Lewis Ludlam, Burger Odendaal, James Ramm and Tom Seabrook.
