The 2023 Rugby World Cup is almost upon us, and Northampton Saints will be well represented at the sport’s showpiece event in France.
France and New Zealand kick-off the tournament on Friday (8 September) before England get their campaign underway a day later against Argentina in Marseille.
The headline news is Courtney Lawes securing his place in a fourth World Cup squad for England, having also been selected in 2011, 2015 and 2019. He arrives in France as an international centurion after captaining his country against Fiji two weekends ago.
1️⃣ - 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣
— Northampton Saints 😇 (@SaintsRugby) August 28, 2023
14 years at the top, one of the all-time greats 🌹 pic.twitter.com/RvXSStLm34
Also featuring in that Twickenham Stadium encounter were Saints captain Lewis Ludlam (who moved to 21 caps) and scrum-half Alex Mitchell who earned his sixth senior international appearance.
Lock David Ribbans, who left Saints at the end of the 2022/23 season, is in England’s World Cup squad and earned his eighth Test cap against Fiji.
Lining up against them in London were Saints’ Flying Fijian duo of Sam Matavesi and Temo Mayanavanua – who are heading to the World Cup and will be in contention to feature against Wales in their Pool C opener on Sunday (10 September).
Matavesi played all 80 minutes of Fiji’s historic win over England, with Mayanavanua coming off the bench for Simon Raiwalui’s inspired side.
Lining up against them in Bordeaux could be former Saints duo Dan Biggar and George North.
Fly-half Biggar, capped 109 times by his country, left cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens in November 2022 having pulled on the Black, Green and Gold jersey 69 times, scoring 614 points in total. He announced his international retirement (to follow the tournament in France) last week.
North, capped 114 times by Wales, joined Saints in 2013 and made 89 appearances scoring 37 tries before joining Ospreys in 2018.
Fellow former Saints Cobus Reinach (South Africa), Frank Lomani (Fiji) and Andrew Kellaway (Australia) are also heading to the World Cup.
Saints supporters may also look to Australian teenager Max Jorgensen with interest, with the Wallaby starlet the son of former Northampton centre Peter Jorgensen – who made 49 appearances for the Club having arrived at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens in 2001.
On the coaching front, Northampton will also be well-represented with four former Saints involved with Scotland, Chile, Portugal and Tonga.
Gregor Townsend leads Scotland into his second Rugby World Cup as head coach, having led his national side since 2017. The 50-year-old made 62 appearances in Black, Green and Gold between 1995 and 1998, and will be looking to take Scotland into the knock-out rounds of the competition for the first time during his tenure after a pool stage exit in 2019.
Former Northampton hooker Dan Richmond played 87 times for the Club across nine years after making his debut in 2000. He boasts the RFU’s highest coaching qualification (Level 4) and also coached Argentina at the 2015 Rugby World Cup. This time around he is scrum coach for World Cup first-timers Chile.
David Gerard played 45 times for Saints as a second row between 2005 and 2007. He also played for Racing Metro, Bordeaux-Begles and Toulouse – and was capped once by France. Upon his retirement from playing, Gerard has held coaching roles at Lyon, Toulouse, Beziers and Montauban. He will be heading to the World Cup on Portugal’s coaching team.
And former Director of Rugby Chris Boyd, who led the men in Black, Green and Gold between 2018 and 2022, will be working within the Tonga set-up as a coaching consultant. Boyd was previously involved with Tonga during the 2011 tournament, when the pacific island nation famously beat France – the eventual losing finalists – for the first time.
Meanwhile Emma Gardner will also be in France with Ireland as Head of Nutrition, having worked with Northampton Saints during one of the Club’s most-successful periods between 2012 and 2017.
