Sinner Noon back for Saints

Colin Noon will make his long awaited return to first team action against Worcester.

Worcester v Northampton

Powergen Cup, Sixways, Saturday October 1, KO 2pm

Centre-pairing Gary Trueman and Mark Tucker make their first starts of the season for the Warriors, as do hooker Chris Fortey and tight-head prop Tevita Taumoepeau.

Other changes see Matt Powell coming in at scrum-half with Drew Hickey returning to the number eight position. Tim Collier resumes his second row partnership with Craig Gillies.

Colin Noon will make his long awaited return to first team action when Northampton take on Worcester at Sixways.

Noon returns from a six-month ban for stamping, and the Powergen Cup tie will be his first start for over a year.

The 29-year-old lines up in an intriguing head-to-head with former teammate Tony Windo, who has been in fabulous try-scoring form so far this season.

And Noon admits that he will have to be on his toes against his good friend.

"I know a bit about Worcester. Tony Windo is an old mate of mine. He will look to get one over on me big time. I will just concentrate on my game and do the best I can," revealed the prop.

Noon is joined by three other changes to the team that lost against Gloucester, as coach Budge Poutney aims for a more disciplined display against the Warriors.

Dan Richmond, Selbourne Boome and Mark Soden are all handed a starting birth, with Poutney stressing:

"We have got to prove our worth, got to improve the areas that were not so strong against Gloucester and we have got to improve our discipline."

Worcester team: 15-Nicolas Le Roux, 14-Jonny Hylton, 13-Dale Rasmussen, 12-Gary Trueman, 11-Mark Tucker, 10-Shane Drahm, 9-Matt Powell; 1-Tony Windo, 2-Chris Fortey, 3-Tevita Taumoepeau, 4-Tim Collier, 5-Craig Gillies, 6-Kai Horstmann, 7-Pat Sanderson (Capt), 8-Drew Hickey.

Replacements: 16-Mike MacDonald, 17-Andre Van Niekerk, 18-Phil Murphy, 19-Johnny Tuamoheloa, 20-Andy Gomarsall, 21-Simon Whatling 22-Thomas Lombard.

Northampton team: 15-Bruce Reihana, 14-Sean Lamont, 13-Jon Clarke, 12-David Quinlan, 11-Ben Cohen, 10-Carlos Spencer, 9-Mark Robinson, 1-Tom Smith, 2-Dan Richmond, 3-Colin Noon, 4-Selborne Boome, 5-Damien Browne, 6-Steve Thompson, 7-Darren Fox, 8-Mark Soden

Replacements: Dylan Hartley, Chris Budgen, Matt Lord, Sam Harding, Johnny Howard, Rhodri Davies, Seamus Mallon