Newcastle Falcons v Northampton Saints: Big match preview

Venue: Kingston Park, Newcastle

Date and kick-off time: Friday, April 18, 7.45pm

Weather forecast: 9c, partly cloudy

Live television coverage: TNT Sports

Referee: Luke Pearce

Assistant referee: Hamish Smales and James Clarke

No.4: Wayne Falla

TMO: Andrew Jackson

Newcastle Falcons: 15. Elliott Obatoyinbo; 14. Alex Hearle, 13. Connor Doherty, 12. Max Clark, 11. Ben Stevenson; 10. Brett Connon, 9. Sam Stuart; 1. Adam Brocklebank, 2. Jamie Blamire, 3. Murray McCallum; 4. John Hawkins, 5. Sebastian de Chaves; 6. Freddie Lockwood, 7. Cameron Neild, 8. Callum Chick (c).

Replacements: 16. Ollie Fletcher, 17. Micky Rewcastle, 18. Richard Palframan, 19. Finn Baker, 20. Ollie Leatherbarrow, 21. Max Pepper, 22. Sammy Arnold, 23. Oli Spencer.

Saints: 15. James Ramm; 14. Tom Litchfield, 13. Burger Odendaal (c), 12. Rory Hutchinson, 11. Tom Seabrook; 10. Charlie Savala, 9. Tom James; 1. Tom West, 2. Craig Wright, 3. Luke Green; 4. Chunya Munga, 5. Tom Lockett; 6. Angus Scott-Young, 7. Tom Pearson, 8. Iakopo Mapu.

Replacements: 16. Henry Walker, 17. Tarek Haffar, 18. Elliot Millar Mills, 19. Temo Mayanavanua, 20. Juarno Augustus, 21. Alex Mitchell, 22. Fin Smith, 23. Will Glister.

Not available for Saints selection: Emeka Atuanya, Sam Graham, George Hendy, George Makepeace-Cubitt, Archie McParland, Toby Thame, Ollie Sleightholme, Robbie Smith.

Most recent meeting: Saturday, December 28, 2024: Saints 61 Newcastle Falcons 0 (Gallagher Premiership)

Newcastle Falcons Steve Diamond: "They beat us 61-0 this year so they're not bad for a team in (eighth) place. They have an unbelievable backline and have proved their ability in Europe. It's going to be a tough game without a doubt."

Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson: “They're a very good team at home. With Steve Diamond, I appreciate he's banned at the moment, but he'll be firing them up. They'll want to finish their season strongly, they'll want to make sure they put their best foot forward and put on their Sunday best for the champions coming in so they'll be bang up for it as they always are. They've got plenty of heart and plenty of grit.”

Opposition dangerman: Elliott Obatoyinbo is a direct runner from full-back and if he’s given space on the counter-attack, he can make teams pay.

Tom Vickers’ prediction: Saints have not won a Gallagher Premiership regular-season away game since way back on January 6, 2024, when they beat Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park. It has been a horrible run of defeats and they are desperate to end it at Kingston Park this week. Saints have the firepower to get the job done. Newcastle 22 Saints 31.