Leeds v Northampton: Teams

Basement-boys Leeds Carnegie have made three changes for their Aviva Premiership clash with sixth-placed Northampton Saints.

Saturday's clash at Headingley is enormous for their survival push and Leeds coach Neil Back has altered his pack.

Steve Thompson is on England duty so Scott Freer comes in, calf injury victim Marco Wentzel is replaced by Sean Hohneck in the second row while Argentinean prop Juan Gomez starts ahead of Phil Swainston.

With Thompson away, Phil Nilsen returns on the bench while youngster James Craig completes the 22.

The Yorkshire outfit claimed their first victory since New Year against London Irish and Back will be keen to press home back-to-back triumphs as they look to close the gap on 11th-placed Newcastle Falcons.

Massive

Northampton suffered their sixth straight league defeat against Exeter last time and have named Shane Geraghty at full-back with Bruce Reihana switching to right wing.

Paul Diggin returns at scrum-half while Roger Wilson has been preferred ahead of Mark Easter at No.8.

Saints boss Jim Mallinder has revealed that this week's training has been about the basics ahead the trip to Leeds.

"We've swapped things around a bit this week, but not got away from the basics that have seen us win games in the last three-and-a-half years," he said.

"We played some good rugby in patches in the first half last week. Even though we made some mistakes we battled our way to a 9-3 lead at half-time and were in a good position, although some unfortunate mistakes in the second half saw us concede points.

"You've got to look to do your best in every game. Leeds won last week and have some momentum. It's a massive game for both clubs."

Leeds Carnegie: 15 Michael Stephenson, 14 Henry Fa'afili, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 Scott Barrow (capt), 11 Peter Wackett, 10 Adrian Jarvis, 9 Scott Mathie, 8 Alfie To'oala, 7 Hendre Fourie, 6 Kearnan Myall, 5 Sean Hohneck, 4 Daniel Browne, 3 Juan Gomez, 2 Scott Freer, 1 Gareth Hardy.
Replacements: 16 Phil Nilsen, 17 Mike MacDonald, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Danny Paul, 20 James Craig, 21 Warren Fury, 22 Ceiron Thomas, 23 Semi Tadulala.

Northampton: 15 Shane Geraghty, 14 Bruce Reihana, 13 Jon Clarke, 12 James Downey, 11 Paul Diggin, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Phil Dowson (capt), 6 Calum Clark, 5 Christian Day, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Brett Sharman, 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements: 16 Andy Long, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Tom Mercey, 19 Mark Sorenson, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Stuart Commins, 22 Matt Cornwell, 23 Greig Tonks.