Northampton Saints v Clermont Auvergne: Big match preview

Venue: cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton

Date and kick-off time: Friday, April 4, 2025, 8pm

Weather forecast: 12c, clear

Live television coverage: Premier Sports

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)

Assistant referees: Andrew Cole and Padraic Reidy (both Ireland)

No.4: James Clarke (England)

TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Saints: 15. James Ramm; 14. Tommy Freeman, 13. Burger Odendaal, 12. Fraser Dingwall (c), 11. George Hendy; 10. Fin Smith, 9. Alex Mitchell; 1. Emmanuel Iyogun, 2. Curtis Langdon, 3. Trevor Davison; 4. Temo Mayanavanua, 5. Alex Coles; 6. Josh Kemeny, 7. Henry Pollock, 8. Juarno Augustus.

Replacements: 16. Henry Walker, 17. Tom West, 18. Luke Green, 19. Tom Lockett, 20. Angus Scott-Young, 21. Tom Pearson, 22. Tom James, 23. Rory Hutchinson.

Clermont Auvergne: 15. Alex Newsome; 14. Bautista Delguy, 13. Irae Simone, 12. George Moala, 11. Alivereti Raka; 10. Anthony Belleau, 9. Sebastien Bezy; 1. Giorgi Akhaladze, 2. Barnabe Massa, 3. Cristian Ojovan; 4. Rob Simmons, 5. Thomas Ceyte; 6. Pita-Gus Sowakula, 7. Killian Tixeront, 8. Fritz Lee (c)

Replacements: 16. Folau Fainga'a, 17. Etienne Falgoux, 18. Michael Ala'alatoa, 19. Anthime Hemery, 20. Alexandre Fischer, 21. Jules Bousquet, 22. Ben Urdapilleta, 23. Pierre Fouyssac.

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

Most recent meeting: March 31, 2019: Clermont Auvergne 61 Saints 38 (European Challenge Cup quarter-final)

Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson: "They've got a massive pack, a huge maul threat, big scrum opportunity, they want to get stuck into that. They maul and scrum for outcomes non-stop and they've got a very, very talented backline with people like (Alivereti) Raka and (George) Moala and others. They're packed full of fantastic players so we need to be on our mettle."

Opposition dangerman: Clermont have numerous threats, but experienced centre George Moala was the key man in the win against La Rochelle last weekend, and he will look to have a big say here.

Tom Vickers’ prediction: Saints will be desperate to get back on track in front of their own supporters as they bid to turn in a much better performance than they did against Leicester a couple of weeks ago. They will have to be at their fluent best to prevail here against a powerful Clermont side. Saints 34 Clermont 29.