RugbyRebels

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS vs HARLEQUINS
Gallagher PREM, Round 9
Saturday 3 January, 2026
cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens
Kick-off: 5.30pm

15 George Hendy
14 Edoardo Todaro
13 Tommy Freeman
12 Fraser Dingwall (c)
11 James Ramm
10 Fin Smith
9 Alex Mitchell

1 Danilo Fischetti
2 Robbie Smith
3 Elliot Millar Mills
4 Alex Coles
5 JJ Van Der Mescht
6 Josh Kemeny
7 Tom Pearson
8 Callum Chick

Replacements:
16 Craig Wright
17 Oliver Scola
18 Cleopas Kundiona
19 Ed Prowse
20 Sam Graham
21 Archie McParland
22 Anthony Belleau
23 Rory Hutchinson

Not considered for selection:
Emeka Atuanya, Will Glister, Curtis Langdon, Tom Litchfield, Tom Lockett, Ollie Sleightholme, Charlie Ulcoq, and Tom West.

STARTING XV:

15. Nick David (80)
14. Rodrigo Isgró (19)
13. Luke Northmore (90)
12. Jarrod Evans (41)
11. Cassius Cleaves (21)
10. Marcus Smith (185)
9. Lucas Friday (9)

1. Will Hobson (24)
2. George Turner (7)
3. Harry Williams (9)
4. Guido Petti Pagadizábal (7)
5. Kieran Treadwell (16)
6. Chandler Cunningham-South (39)
7. Jack Kenningham (83)
8. Alex Dombrandt (C) (162)

IMPACT PLAYERS:

16. Sam Riley (74)
17. Simon Kerrod (123)
18. Pedro Delgado (8)
19. Elliot Williams (3)
20. Joe Launchbury (48)
21. Zach Carr (19)
22. Will Porter (54)
23. Bryn Bradley (18)

Unavailable: James Chisholm, Stu Townsend, Tyrone Green, Jordan Els, Ollie Streeter, Titi Lamositele, Stephan Lewies, Ben Waghorn, Will Evans, Connor Slevin, Fin Baxter, Boris Wenger, Jack Walker, Cadan Murley, Oscar Beard, Ludo Kolade, Frank McMillan

Well looks like another miserable weekend for Quins fans.

Furbank not involved this week or last. Not listed on unavailable.

Any news on Fin Baxter and his injury?

Yeah we're getting kerbstomped

Damn. I thought Waghorn was fit again.

That injury list is rough.

Fixture list not kind to Quins. A trip to FG is not really what they would have wanted right now. Might they surprise us and produce a performance?

Munga very unlucky not to even get into the matchday squad after last weeks effort.

Great start from quins.

Yes mr commentator, I'm sure iscro has never before experienced the brutal temperatures of a northampton winter before coming from argentina.

Cracking game this, everyone tune in.

twitchy wrote: ↑Sat Jan 03, 2026 5:44 pm Yes mr commentator, I'm sure iscro has never before experienced the brutal temperatures of a northampton winter before coming from argentina.

Yep particularly because I think he's from Mendoza and that's within easy reach of the Andes. They'll be skiing in the winter.

Quins look threatening in attack again, still can't defend. Saints are so good ball in hand aren't they, so many offloads that would be 50/50 for any other team just look certainties for them.

twitchy wrote: ↑Sat Jan 03, 2026 5:44 pm Yes mr commentator, I'm sure iscro has never before experienced the brutal temperatures of a northampton winter before coming from argentina.

I thought this when he said it so googled it. He’s from Mendoza where July is the coldest month with average low of 3 degrees and average high of 14 degrees. The weather in Northampton is -2 (“real feel” -9) so he probably is feeling the cold tonight…

No need to thank me.

Sure, but he will have travelled around the country as a professional rugby player. It just reminded of the 90's football commentators who thought argentina was in the amazon.

Saints in full flow are great.

Any news on Dingwall? No idea what the injury actually was but didn’t look good.

I turned off over half time. Not sure.

Didnt look good for Dingwall. Heres hoping its not too serious.

Saints just too strong. They're playing with great fluency right now that its very hard to contain them.

Certainly it was beyond Quins who did score 3 good tries but otherwise seemed all over the place. Its no fun watching a side misfire as badly as this.

Captainhaircut wrote: ↑Sat Jan 03, 2026 6:57 pm Any news on Dingwall? No idea what the injury actually was but didn’t look good.

Looked like he took a knee to the head at the bottom of the ruck. Got knocked out. Hopefully he'll be ok after a couple of weeks rest.

Well played saints. Quins just fell apart after a promising start.

Captainhaircut wrote: ↑Sat Jan 03, 2026 6:17 pm

twitchy wrote: ↑Sat Jan 03, 2026 5:44 pm Yes mr commentator, I'm sure iscro has never before experienced the brutal temperatures of a northampton winter before coming from argentina.

I thought this when he said it so googled it. He’s from Mendoza where July is the coldest month with average low of 3 degrees and average high of 14 degrees. The weather in Northampton is -2 (“real feel” -9) so he probably is feeling the cold tonight…

No need to thank me.

In the city. Go out the city and in the area there's ski resorts.

"Mendoza, Argentina, is a premier South American skiing destination, famed for its high-altitude Andes resorts like Las Leñas (South America's top extreme/backcountry spot) and Los Penitentes (classic, close to the city), offering powder, steep terrain, and incredible views near Mt. Aconcagua, with options for all levels from beginner to expert, complemented by ski schools and rentals. "

Up the mountains there it gets a bit fresh.

That being said, it's rarely fun playing in negative conditions whether you've done it before or not. Being able to feel your extremities is always appreciated. Makes it even more impressive that Saints managed to throw the ball around like they did.

That finish by Todaro on about 71 mins was incredible. His ability to break tackles is really great.

I'm going to hazard a guess here, but...
When skiing in the Andes, most people would wear a bit more than a rugby shirt and shorts....

Adam_P wrote: ↑Sat Jan 03, 2026 8:33 pm That finish by Todaro on about 71 mins was incredible. His ability to break tackles is really great.

It was a great finish though some questions might get asked of the Quins tackling. Mind you that'll be true for most the game.

Which Tyler wrote: ↑Sat Jan 03, 2026 8:36 pm I'm going to hazard a guess here, but...
When skiing in the Andes, most people would wear a bit more than a rugby shirt and shorts....

I dunno, mountains are for hiking and cycling. Too poor to go skiing growing up, fecked knee now.

If you're hiking in -9 temperatures, wearing a rugby shirt and shorts....
Well, you'd better not be going for a long hike

Need to write my weekly “Quins are a rabble” post.

God they were dreadful. Healey suggested in comms that Gilmore should be sacked for saying their season is over. I’d say he should also be sacked for playing Evans at 12.

Looking at their fixtures and other than Gloucester at home, they look like they’ll lose every single game for the rest of the season. something may spark at some point but they look like a zombie side waiting for the season to end where hopefully they’ll appoint an entirely new coaching team.