Northampton v Saracens: Teams
Northampton boss Jim Mallinder insists his side are "fresh" and ready for their Guinness Premiership play-off semi-final with Saracens.
Last Updated: 14/05/10 1:35pm
Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder insists his side are "fresh" and ready for their Guinness Premiership play-off semi-final with Saracens.
The Saints secured home advantage over Sarries with victory over London Irish in the final game of the regular season.
And having lost their long-standing unbeaten home record to Saracens - and been involved in a feud with the club over the course of the season - Saints have plenty of motivation going into the game.
Mallinder, though, insists his players fully focused on booking their place at Twickenham.
"A Guinness Premiership semi-final is a massive game, no matter who you are playing," Mallinder said.
"We have worked hard to get a home semi-final and we know that we have our destiny in our own hands.
Fierce
"The players are all feeling fresh, which says a lot about the hard work put into the conditioning and their attitude in general, and competition for a place in the team has been fierce all week.
"Games like this are why we are involved in rugby. We are one game away from Twickenham and we know that if we score more points than Saracens on Sunday afternoon then we will get there."
Saracens director of rugby Brendan Venter has hailed the quality of the Saints side - but he is confident of his team's chances.
"Northampton are an excellent rugby side and they have some very talented players within their squad," said Venter.
"We have been in good form in recent weeks, and everybody is looking forward to a fantastic match."
Venter has made one change to his starting XV, with highly-rated Alex Goode coming in at full-back, while there is a place for veteran scrum-half Justin Marshall on the bench.
Northampton:15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton 13 Jon Clarke, 12 James Downey, 11 Bruce Reihana, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Neil Best, 6 Phil Dowson, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Dylan Hartley (capt), 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements:16 Brett Sharman, 17 Regardt Dreyer, 18 Darren Morris, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Alan Dickens, 22 Shane Geraghty, 23 Joe Ansbro.
Saracens:15 Alex Goode, 14 Michael Tagicakibau, 13 Adam Powell, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Glen Jackson, 9 Neil de Kock, 8 Ernst Joubert (c), 7 Andy Saull, 6 Jacques Burger, 5 Mouritz Botha, 4 Hugh Vyvyan, 3 Petrus du Plessis, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements:16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Richard Skuse, 19 Tom Ryder, 20 Justin Melck, 21 Justin Marshall, 22 Derick Hougaard, 23 Kameli Ratuvou.