Newcastle Falcons vs Northampton Programme
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
RIGHT<br />
HOOKER<br />
CURTIS LANGDON<br />
BELOW<br />
WINGER<br />
JAMES RAMM<br />
IN OPPOSITION<br />
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS<br />
NICKNAME<br />
Saints, Jimmies<br />
FOUNDED<br />
1880<br />
HOME GROUND<br />
cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens<br />
DIRECTOR OF RUGBY<br />
PHIL DOWSON<br />
CAPTAIN<br />
Lewis Ludlam<br />
<strong>Northampton</strong> Saints come into this afternoon’s fixture still<br />
searching for their first victory of the Gallagher Premiership<br />
season.<br />
The East Midlands outfit were defeated 20-15 at Sale Sharks on<br />
the league’s opening weekend, with tries from wingers Tommy<br />
Freeman and James Ramm just not enough to beat the men<br />
from Manchester.<br />
Last weekend’s home tie against Bristol saw the consolation of<br />
a pair of bonus points from their 33-27 defeat, when a pair of<br />
Tom Seabrook tries and one from Tom Pearson had put them<br />
into a one-point half-time lead.<br />
Two driving maul tries from the Bears after the break proved<br />
decisive, but the Saints will have fond memories of Kingston<br />
Park following their victory here on the penultimate round of<br />
last season.<br />
Director of rugby Phil Dowson returns to the club at which he<br />
was first-team captain, and the Saints squad has a number of<br />
familiar faces in its ranks for <strong>Falcons</strong> followers.<br />
Prop-forward Trevor Davison is chief among those, with the<br />
Geordie native heading to Franklin’s Gardens towards the back<br />
end of last season after playing more than a century of games<br />
for his home-town team.<br />
Scottish hooker Robbie Smith and Cornish centre Joel Matavesi<br />
have also worn the black of <strong>Newcastle</strong>, forming part of a<br />
<strong>Northampton</strong> squad which had a relatively stable summer.<br />
Premiership semi-finalists last season who lost away to<br />
Saracens in the knock-out phase, their headline summer<br />
recruit was all-action flanker Tom Pearson, with the England<br />
international arriving from London Irish following their off-field<br />
troubles.<br />
Fellow Exiles Chunya Munga and Izaiha Moore-Aiono followed<br />
the same route, while Lyon’s Finian second-row Temo<br />
Mayanavanua adds to their bulk and athleticism.<br />
Well-travelled hooker Curtis Langdon continued his rugby<br />
journey by arriving from Montpellier after spells with Worcester<br />
and Sale, while ex-Gloucester wing Tom Seabrook showed his<br />
early impact with two tries last weekend.<br />
South African centre Burger Odendaal returned to the Gallagher<br />
Premiership after impressing with Wasps prior to their offfield<br />
travails, and their coaching team also saw a shake-up<br />
with Remaining in the ranks are a host of household names,<br />
with former Worcester stand-off Fin Smith one of their key<br />
attacking weapons following Dan Biggar’s mid-season move<br />
to Toulon.<br />
Fiji hooker Sam Matavesi provides a threat around the park<br />
after returning from Rugby World Cup duty, with Scottish<br />
international Rory Hutchinson among their midfield options.<br />
There was certainly no shortage of points during their<br />
BELOW<br />
BACK-ROWER<br />
TOM PEARSON<br />
Premiership Rugby Cup campaign, scoring 240 across their five<br />
group games at an average of 48 per match, but it was still not<br />
enough to make the semi-finals.<br />
Their 48-22 away loss to Ealing on the opening weekend was<br />
followed by a 55-5 home win over Cambridge, but a 39-38<br />
away loss at Bristol proved key key.<br />
They defeated Bath 43-42 at home as the high scores<br />
continued, and ended their assault on the competition with a<br />
televised 82-12 rout at home to Doncaster prior to the start of<br />
the league season.<br />
IN OPPOSITION - NORTHAMPTON SAINTS<br />
63