Juarno Augustus and Rory Hutchinson return to Northampton Saints’ line-up this weekend, as the men in Black, Green and Gold travel to Coventry Rugby to wrap up the first block of Premiership Rugby Cup matches.
Saints have not faced Championship leaders Coventry since they featured in the English second tier themselves, last locking horns with their Midlands counterparts in 2008 – where Saints ran out 48-16 winners at Butts Park Arena.
Northampton return to Coventry this Saturday (23 November, kick-off: 3pm), with Phil Dowson ringing the changes for the Round 3 clash.
Chunya Munga leads Northampton for the second time this Cup campaign from the second row, with Tom Lockett recovering from injury to return to Saints’ engine room and make his first appearance of the 2024/25 season.
Northampton’s front row remains unchanged from their 31-29 comeback victory over Nottingham Rugby last time out, with props Tarek Haffar and Luke Green joining hooker Craig Wright there.
Augustus makes a welcome return to Northampton’s back row after a two-month injury lay-off, with the No.8 lining up alongside flankers Tom Pearson and Henry Pollock – who both featured for England A in their 38-17 victory over Australia A last weekend, where the latter claimed the man-of-the-match award.
Half-back duo Archie McParland and George Makepeace-Cubitt reprise their roles at scrum-half and fly-half for the third week running against Coventry.
Fresh from facing Portugal with Scotland, centre Hutchinson will don Black, Green and Gold this weekend as he partners Tom Litchfield in Saints’ midfield for Round 3.
Saints’ also name a fresh-look back three for the clash at Butts Park, where James Ramm and Tom Seabrook will man Northampton’s wings and George Hendy starts at fullback for the second time in the Cup campaign.
Saints name a bench with plenty of firepower for the trip to Coventry, as Emmanuel Iyogun and Curtis Langdon return from their time in England A’s camp to line-up amongst the replacements.
Meanwhile Trevor Davison comes back into Saints’ set-up after training with England’s senior squad, and there is also room for Angus Scott-Young, Tom James and young winger Will Glister on Northampton’s bench in Coventry.
COVENTRY RUGBY vs NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
Premiership Rugby Cup, Round 3
Saturday 23 November, 2024
Kick-off: 3pm
15 George Hendy
14 James Ramm
13 Tom Litchfield
12 Rory Hutchinson
11 Tom Seabrook
10 George Makepeace-Cubitt
9 Archie McParland
1 Tarek Haffar
2 Craig Wright
3 Luke Green
4 Tom Lockett
5 Chunya Munga (c)
6 Tom Pearson
7 Henry Pollock
8 Juarno Augustus
Replacements:
16 Curtis Langdon
17 Emmanuel Iyogun
18 Trevor Davison
19 Gavin Thornbury
20 Angus Scott-Young
21 Tom James
22 Charlie Savala
23 Will Glister
Not available for selection:
Emeka Atuanya, Fraser Dingwall, Sam Graham, Callum Hunter-Hill, Josh Kemeny, Alex Mitchell, Burger Odendaal, Toby Thame and Robbie Smith.
International duty: Tommy Freeman, George Furbank, Ollie Sleightholme and Fin Smith (all England), Elliot Millar Mills (Scotland), and Temo Mayanavanua (Fiji).
COVENTRY TEAM TO FACE SAINTS:
15 Robson, 14 Hutler, 13 Tiueti, 12 Hitchcock, 11 Opoku, 10 Mathews, 9 Barton; 1 Nairau, 2 Poole, 3 Johnson, 4 Nkwocha, 5 Nayalo, 6 Ball, 7 Hinkley, 8 Kvesic
Replacements: 16 Ma’asi, 17 Warren, 18 Salt, R19ys Anstey, 20 Tyas, 21 Lane, 22 Martin, 23 Owen
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Veryan Boscawen and Michael Woods
No.4: James Minards
