Harlequins v Northampton Saints: Big match preview

Venue: Twickenham Stoop, London

Date and kick-off time: Friday, January 24, 2025, 7.45pm

Weather forecast: 8c, cloudy

Live television coverage: TNT Sports

Referee: Luke Pearce

Assistant referees: Calum Howard and Simon Harding

No.4: Matthew Carley

TMO: Dean Richards

Harlequins: 15 Tyrone Green; 14 Nick David, 13 Will Joseph, 12 Ben Waghorn, 11 Cassius Cleaves; 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Danny Care; 1 Wyn Jones, 2 Jack Walker, 3 Simon Kerrod; 4 Joe Launchbury, 5 Stephan Lewies (c); 6 Jack Kenningham, 7 Will Evans, 8 James Chisholm.

Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Jordan Els, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Irne Herbst, 20 Tom Lawday, 21 Will Porter, 22 Jamie Benson, 23 Leigh Halfpenny.

Saints: 15 James Ramm; 14 Tom Litchfield, 13 Charlie Savala, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Tom Seabrook; 10 George Makepeace-Cubitt, 9 Archie McParland; 1 Tarek Haffar, 2 Henry Walker, 3 Trevor Davison; 4 Tom Lockett, 5 Temo Mayanavanua; 6 Josh Kemeny (c), 7 Tom Pearson, 8 Juarno Augustus.

Replacements: 16 Craig Wright, 17 Tom West, 18 Luke Green 19 Ed Prowse, 20 Callum Hunter-Hill, 21 Angus Scott-Young, 22 Tom James, 23 Will Glister.

Not available for Saints selection: Emeka Atuanya, Alex Coles, George Furbank, Sam Graham, George Hendy, Emmanuel Iyogun, Chunya Munga, Burger Odendaal, Toby Thame, Robbie Smith, Fraser Dingwall, Tommy Freeman, Curtis Langdon, Alex Mitchell, Henry Pollock, Ollie Sleightholme, Fin Smith.

Most recent meeting: Friday, October 4, 2024: Saints 33 Harlequins 29 (Gallagher Premiership)

Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson: "It's a really interesting challenge because both sides have lost their England EPS squad players so we look to the strength of the squad, which we're really happy with and I'm sure they are to in terms of players there who are desperate for the opportunity and desperate for game time. The philosophies of the clubs will be the same in that we want to go and play, we want to play fast, we want to get our game on the pitch, as we always say, and regardless of who's missing, it will be a full-on affair."

Opposition dangerman: Time and again we’ve seen Will Evans have a huge impact in games against Saints. The flanker is crucial to helping Quins slow Saints down at the breakdown, and if he is allowed to do that, it will be a tough night for the black, green and gold.

Tom Vickers’ prediction: Saints have not won at Quins since April 2019, and with the experience and star names they are missing on this occasion, it’s a huge ask for them to break that barren run. It could be that Quins’ extra experience and home advantage tells here. Harlequins 37 Saints 27.