TEAM NEWS | Northampton Saints v Saracens Men (PREM - Rd 5)
Noah Caluori is looking to continue his good form into a crucial top of the table clash against Northampton Saints this Friday night.
The 19-year-old sits top of the try-scoring charts in the PREM after scoring five in an incredible performance against Sale Sharks last weekend. Having spent the first half of the week in camp training with England, Caluori is keen to keep up the good momentum the team now have into the visit to cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens.
Director of Rugby Mark McCall makes just three changes from the starting XV that produced a dominant performance over Sale. The starting front-row features one change with Eroni Mawi and Marco Riccioni packing down either side of Theo Dan.
After making his 200th appearance for the club last weekend, Maro Itoje remains alongside Hugh Tizard in the second row. The forwards change in the back row sees Juan Martin Gonzalez partnered alongside Andy Onyeama-Christie on the flanks, Tom Willis remains at number eight.
Charlie Bracken continues to impress in the starting shirt alongside Fergus Burke who dotted down against the Sharks last Saturday.
Owen Farrell is alongside Nick Tompkins who is fresh off another international call-up for Wales. Jack Bracken slots in on the left wing, with teenage sensation Caluori on the right. Max Malins continues to control proceedings from full-back.
The replacements list sees the re-introduction of Theo McFarland who bolsters the forward options on a bench that has plenty of experience including the likes of Nick Isiekwe and Ben Earl.
Caluori is excited to play under the lights in Northampton.
“We have some good momentum off the back of last week and there’s a good buzz around the training ground. Everyone’s always focused on the next job, we always talk about going back to zero. We’ve done that, and we’re now fully focused on how we’re going to deal with Saints.”
Saracens Men team to play Northampton Saints:
1 Eroni Mawi
2 Theo Dan
3 Marco Riccioni
4 Maro Itoje (c)
5 Hugh Tizard
6 Juan Martin Gonzalez
7 Andy Onyeama-Christie
8 Tom Willis
9 Charlie Bracken
10 Fergus Burke
11 Jack Bracken
12 Owen Farrell
13 Nick Tompkins
14 Noah Caluori
15 Max Malins
Replacements:
16 James Hadfield
17 Rhys Carre
18 Marcus Street
19 Nick Isiekwe
20 Theo McFarland
21 Ben Earl
22 Gareth Simpson
23 Angus Hall
