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Three of Northampton Saints' biggest stars pulled from midlands derby
By Online Editors
Three of Northampton Saints' biggest stars have been pulled from their midlands derby with Leicester at the last minute.
Courtney Lawes, Owen Franks and Dan Biggar have all been ruled out of this afternoon’s East Midlands Derby clash for Northampton Saints, after failing late fitness tests.
Api Ratuniyarawa comes into the second row in place of Lawes, with Alex Coles taking his spot amongst the replacements.
Ehren Painter will start at tighthead prop instead of Franks, with Paul Hill coming onto the bench.
And James Grayson will wear the No.10 jersey for Saints in a straight swap for the injured Biggar.
Revised team:
15 George Furbank, 14 Tom Collins, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 10 James Grayson, 9 Cobus Reinach
1 Alex Waller (co-capt), 2 Mikey Haywood, 3 Ehren Painter, 4 Alex Moon, 5 Api Ratuniyarawa, 6 Tom Wood, 7 Lewis Ludlam, 8 Teimana Harrison (co-capt)
Replacements: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Jamie Gibson, 21 James Mitchell, 22 Fraser Dingwall, 23 Ahsee Tuala
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Latest Comments
Can you relay which "Irish" have said this? News to me.
I have stated that it is not the meritocracy it claims to be due to the draw and scheduling.
The 2023 draw was made right after the 2019 WC so I can substantiate that claim. For example Scotland who were 4th seed when the RWC started finished in joined 16th position. This was not a reflection of their ability: the draw meant they had to play two of the big 4 and bear at least one to have a chance of making a top 8.
Careful when you are sh1t talking the Irish. There are a few of us around here now.
Go to commentsMany Ireland related articles go back a very short way, ABs/Bok thumped them for years. Ire have only been a force in rugby for a short while. A recency bias in IRE favour it seems.
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