Northampton vs Exeter - Sunday 3pm

[Puja]

Northampton Saints: 15 George Hendy, 14 Tom Seabrook, 13 Tommy Freeman , 12 Fraser Dingwall (c), 11 James Ramm, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Sam Graham, 7 Angus Scott-Young, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Chunya Munga, 4 Alex Moon, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Tom Pearson, 21 Tom James, 22 Rory Hutchinson, 23 Tom Litchfield

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Tommy Wyatt, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Ben Hammersley, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Tom Cairns, 8 Ross Vintcent, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Lewis Pearson, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 3 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 2 Dan Frost, 1 Nika Abuladze
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle , 17 Scott Sio, 18 Ehren Painter, 19 Rusi Tuima, 20 Aidon Davis, 21 Niall Armstrong, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Tom Hendrickson

Venue: cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant Referees: Jamie Leahy, Richard Gordon
TMO: Rowan Kitt

[p/d]

Langdon & Frost.............. Happy days.

[Banquo]

Freeman in midfield looks like a thing now....hmm.

Prefer Pearson to be starting over Scott-Young tbh

[FKAS]

Hmm two centres on the bench and a wing/fullback at 13 for Saints.

Should be an interesting game this, suspect Chiefs will have touch power up front.

[Banquo]

Hmm two centres on the bench and a wing/fullback at 13 for Saints.

Should be an interesting game this, suspect Chiefs will have touch power up front.

Freeman has started at 13 a couple of times, but interesting nonetheless- Hutchinson defence counts against him. Litchfield has appeared mainly on the wing for Saints, though not sure where he played when at Bedford.

[Puja]

Freeman in midfield looks like a thing now....hmm.

Prefer Pearson to be starting over Scott-Young tbh

Not exactly a dynamic back row, is it?

Interesting to see both Painter and Tuima dropped/rested. There'll be a horrible experience for Northampton's scrum to have both of them coming on fresh at some point in the second half.

Puja

[FKAS]

Freeman in midfield looks like a thing now....hmm.

Prefer Pearson to be starting over Scott-Young tbh

Not exactly a dynamic back row, is it?

Interesting to see both Painter and Tuima dropped/rested. There'll be a horrible experience for Northampton's scrum to have both of them coming on fresh at some point in the second half.

Puja

Chiefs have been rotating their front rows over the last few weeks. Painter et al were on the bench Vs Sale as well.

[Adam_P]

Yeah some odd selection choices there for Saints. Would have more confidence with Ramm/Freeman at 15 and Hutch at centre. And Pearson in the backrow for some more dynamism.

[Mellsblue]

Hmm two centres on the bench and a wing/fullback at 13 for Saints.

Should be an interesting game this, suspect Chiefs will have touch power up front.

Freeman has started at 13 a couple of times, but interesting nonetheless- Hutchinson defence counts against him. Litchfield has appeared mainly on the wing for Saints, though not sure where he played when at Bedford.

He played 13. Also played 13 on his first start for u20 but had a bit of a mare and was shunted on to the wing thereafter, iirc.

[fivepointer]

Exe made far too many errors and kicked poorly. Not at their best by a long way.

Saints did some good things. Fin Smith very good, Freeman also stood out, Pearson looked good off the bench.

[Adam_P]

Coles did well off the bench too. Happy with that performance

[Banquo]

Coles did well off the bench too. Happy with that performance

Yep.

Weird red card tho.

[Oakboy]

Coles did well off the bench too. Happy with that performance

Yep.

Weird red card tho.

Agreed but they did check the real time shots, I suppose. It looked terrible in slo-mo of course.

[Oakboy]

Exe made far too many errors and kicked poorly. Not at their best by a long way.

Saints did some good things. Fin Smith very good, Freeman also stood out, Pearson looked good off the bench.

Yes, I thought Exeter had enough decent ball to make things a lot closer. Their backs looked raw and jittery but they need time to gel, presumably. Hawkins was a good example. He did some good defensive work but offered little otherwise. I still have reservations about Skinner.

[FKAS]

Exeter kicked horrifically and Saints made them pay. Impressive performance from Saints though they'll be disappointed to concede some of those tries close to the line when their defence was so good around the park.

I think Exeter spent most of the first half offside and CMK pinged them appropriately.

Fin Smith looking assured. We should really cap him to ensure that Scotland don't come knocking.

[monkey]

Surely you guys will start him in the A game?

[FKAS]

Surely you guys will start him in the A game?

It would make the most sense. Depending on available flyhalfs and form at the time a go off the bench Vs Italy might not be a bad call as well.

[Puja]

Agreed on FSmith - while he might not be in our top 2 fly-halves just yet, he's certainly far too good to let Scotland get their hands on.

Puja

[p/d]

Fin Smith looking assured. We should really cap him to ensure that Scotland don't come knocking.

Send them Skinner.

[p/d]

Thought Exeter were woeful. No ambition and poor execution.

Saints looked good right across the park. Coles very special when he came on, Lawes a cracking shirt and Langdon and Smith remain on course

[FKAS]

Agreed on FSmith - while he might not be in our top 2 fly-halves just yet, he's certainly far too good to let Scotland get their hands on.

Puja

He's easily out fourth best and given his age profile and potential it shouldn't be long before he moves up that pecking order. Scotland getting their hands on him would benefit them and hamper our rebuild into the next world cup.

[Oakboy]

Agreed on FSmith - while he might not be in our top 2 fly-halves just yet, he's certainly far too good to let Scotland get their hands on.

Puja

He's easily out fourth best and given his age profile and potential it shouldn't be long before he moves up that pecking order. Scotland getting their hands on him would benefit them and hamper our rebuild into the next world cup.

I think we are in the position in the 4 year cycle where we are at risk of not allowing two young FHs to have time to play well, lose form and come back better. I'd pick the two Smiths now at 10 and 22. Ford and Farrell on the fringe as short-term injury-cover is how we should proceed starting with the 6N.

[Banquo]

Thought Exeter were woeful. No ambition and poor execution.

Lawes a cracking shirt

Was that after the game?

[FKAS]

Agreed on FSmith - while he might not be in our top 2 fly-halves just yet, he's certainly far too good to let Scotland get their hands on.

Puja

He's easily out fourth best and given his age profile and potential it shouldn't be long before he moves up that pecking order. Scotland getting their hands on him would benefit them and hamper our rebuild into the next world cup.

I think we are in the position in the 4 year cycle where we are at risk of not allowing two young FHs to have time to play well, lose form and come back better. I'd pick the two Smiths now at 10 and 22. Ford and Farrell on the fringe as short-term injury-cover is how we should proceed starting with the 6N.

I'd drop Farrell most certainly but I'd prefer to integrate Fin Smith into the side gradually. Marcus Smith was dropped in there and told to play and struggled. I'd like to avoid that and having Ford managing the side we can still develop the attack and build up the side so the younger guys push through into a side that works.

[Puja]

He's easily out fourth best and given his age profile and potential it shouldn't be long before he moves up that pecking order. Scotland getting their hands on him would benefit them and hamper our rebuild into the next world cup.

I think we are in the position in the 4 year cycle where we are at risk of not allowing two young FHs to have time to play well, lose form and come back better. I'd pick the two Smiths now at 10 and 22. Ford and Farrell on the fringe as short-term injury-cover is how we should proceed starting with the 6N.

I'd drop Farrell most certainly but I'd prefer to integrate Fin Smith into the side gradually. Marcus Smith was dropped in there and told to play and struggled. I'd like to avoid that and having Ford managing the side we can still develop the attack and build up the side so the younger guys push through into a side that works.

I'd agree with that as well, especially since FSmith plays so similarly to Ford that it would be incredibly useful to his development to have Ford as a mentor and someone to learn from and work towards surpassing. As I believe I've mentioned before, I don't want young players just being handed a shirt and told they're special enough already - I want them being shown the target and told, "He's still better than you and that's where you need to be aiming at," before getting rewarded.

Puja