Saints v Quins Friday Night

[fivepointer]

Northampton: Furbank; Proctor, Dingwall, Hutchinson, Freeman; Grayson, Mitchell; Iyogun, Haywood, Carey, Coles, Ratuniyarawa, Lawes, Ludlam (capt), Augustus.

Replacements: Fish, Waller, Hill, Moon, Hinkley, James, Francis, Sleightholme.

Harlequins: Jones; Lynagh, Marchant, Esterhuizen, Murley; Smith, Care; Kerrod, Walker, Louw, Symons, Tizard; Lewies, Lawday, Dombrandt.

Replacements: Musk, Garcia Botta, Collier, Chisholm, Wallace, Gjaltema, Allan, David.

Belting game in prospect. Lawes back is a boost for Saints. Hinkley on bench which is a good sign.

[Adam_P]

Some good match ups there - Freeman vs Lynagh and Augustus vs Dombrandt should both be interesting.

Shame Hill isn't starting and that Matavesi is off with the Navy this weekend. Very surprised to see Lawes back so soon after what sounded like a pretty grim thumb injury. Hopefully he folds Smith in half early doors.

[Mellsblue]

Very surprised to see Lawes back so soon after what sounded like a pretty grim thumb injury. Hopefully he folds Smith in half early doors.

Rugby summed up in two sentences. Lovely.
I miss playing so much.

[Scrumhead]

Strange that Saints have picked Grayson at 10 for arguably the most important game of their season. Typically when Biggar has been unavailable, they’ve overlooked Grayson (often not even making the bench) in favour of Furbank. Seems an odd time to bring him in?

[Beasties]

And there was me thinking Lawes was out of the summer tour…

[twitchy]

This should be fun, looking forward to it.

[Mikey Brown]

What’s Carey like in the scrum? Never heard of him.

[Adam_P]

Since he's played for Saints he's been solid but not spectacular. I'd have started Hill for sure, but he played 80 mins last week so I expect that has been factored in

[Mikey Brown]

Yeah Hill vs (potentially) Garcia Botta late on concerns me. Would love to see him get shown up though, he behaved like an unbelievable tosser last time we played you.

Healey and Kay on their usual form in the buildup.

[Peej]

Some good match ups there - Freeman vs Lynagh and Augustus vs Dombrandt should both be interesting.

Shame Hill isn't starting and that Matavesi is off with the Navy this weekend. Very surprised to see Lawes back so soon after what sounded like a pretty grim thumb injury. Hopefully he folds Smith in half early doors.

I had no idea Matavasi was in the Navy

[Adam_P]

Some good match ups there - Freeman vs Lynagh and Augustus vs Dombrandt should both be interesting.

Shame Hill isn't starting and that Matavesi is off with the Navy this weekend. Very surprised to see Lawes back so soon after what sounded like a pretty grim thumb injury. Hopefully he folds Smith in half early doors.

I had no idea Matavasi was in the Navy

Starting at 8 for them!

[Mikey Brown]

Classy try there.

[twitchy]

This is just end to end stuff.

[Mellsblue]

George ‘The Enforcer’ Furbank.

[Mikey Brown]

Was just going to say Marchant has looked a bit quiet/indecisive. Obviously that required a touch of luck but that was ridiculous.

Feels like this game is going to have a ton of tries.

[Mellsblue]

Class from Dingwall.

[Mikey Brown]

Not sure Saints are going to be able to put out a team if they do make the playoffs. Got to feel for them.

Tizard has put in some huge hits.

[Adam_P]

Yeah all these injuries are sub optimal, though our next game isn't until 21 May so hopefully at least some can recover

[Scrumhead]

Obviously pure misfortune, but uncontested scrums have taken away one of Quins’ biggest weapons. Definitely benefits Saints more than it does us IMO.

Furbank try looked short to me … still long way to go and Quins still in touch.

[Timbo]

Mitchell ripping Quins to shreds here.

[Mikey Brown]

Yeah just feels like 3 or 4 Saints injuries are going to take their toll on this second half now the momentum has turned.

[FKAS]

Saints looking tired in the second half. Got to be questions over whether they've got the requisite S&C to play at that awesome tempo for the full game. Losing half the bench due to injuries won't help either.

[Scrumhead]

That penalty call to win the game is an absolutely disgraceful mistake. Carley is clueless.

[FKAS]

That penalty call to win the game is an absolutely disgraceful mistake. Carley is clueless.

Quins did get a few 50/50s in their own 22. Not quite sure what the last one was for mind. Danny Care adding another yellow to his tally. I wonder at what point the RFU issue a suspension for the shear accumulation. He did nearly talk himself into a red.

Highly entertaining game. Hope the various injuries aren't too serious.

[Mikey Brown]

Well that felt like we should have had that at 60 minutes, but very little in it in the end. Hard n out to question some of those decisions late on but it shouldn’t have been that close.