Round 7 of the Zurich Premiership see Saints visit our close rivals and friends London Irish. Possibly the most colourful, with their wigs and boas and the second noisiest, there is always a warm welcome for Saints fans at the Mad jet ski and we know that many London Irish fans enjoy their visits to the Gardens.

On the pitch the recent history between the clubs is less amicable and both sides will feel that there are scores to settle. Highest on the agenda will be Saints revenge mission following their 'no-show' in the Powergen cup final.

This season for Irish is not going to plan. Instead of  galvanizing their position as one of England's top clubs they languish one from bottom in the ZP with only one win in 6 games. Saints on the other hand are lurking in 4th place, in prime position to mount a challenge at the top of the table. Irish have however rallied in Europe with a gallant loss in Toulouse followed by a good win at home to Edinburgh.

Zurich Premiership Table
Match reports from fellow sportnetwork site The Craic www.londonirish.org
London Irish 22 Bath Rugby 24
Leeds Tykes 41 London Irish 16
London Irish 32 Saracens 10
NEC Harlequins 29 London Irish 19
London Irish 21 Wasps 31
Sale 36 London Irish 14

Form however counts for nothing in a topsy turvey season where home advantage seems to be the dominant factor, despite their lowly position a win on Sunday for Saints at the madjet would truly be a fine accomplishment.

Team News
Northampton Saints

15 NICK BEAL
14 ORIOL RIPOL
13 Mark Tucker
12 JOHN LESLIE
11 BEN COHEN
10 PAUL GRAYSON
9 MATT DAWSON
1 TOM SMITH
2 STEVE THOMPSON
3 Robbie Morris
4 STEVE WILLIAMS
5 MARK CONNORS
6 ANDREW BLOWERS
7 BUDGE POUNTNEY (capt)
8 Mark Soden

Replacements from:
Chris Budgen, Matt Miles, MATT STEWART, Jon Phillips, Rob Hunter, Grant Seely, Johnny Howard, Chris Hyndman, JON SLEIGHTHOLME, James Brooks.

London Irish

15. Michael Horak*
14. Paul Sackey
13. Geoff Appleford*
12. Brendan Venter*
11. Justin Bishop*
10. Barry Everitt
9. Darren Edwards
1. Neal Hatley
2. Naka Drotske*
3. Simon Halford
4. Ryan Strudwick (Captain)
5. Bob Casey*
6. Declan Danaher
7. Kieron Dawson*
8. Paul Gustard

Replacements:
16. Kevin Barrett
17. Mark Mapletoft*
18. Chris Sheasby*
19. Adrian Flavin
20. Kevin Burke
21. Mike Worsley
22. Rob Hardwick*



Last Season

Honours were even in the Zurich Premiership with both sides recording a home win:
Irish 48 saints 12
Saints 24 Irish 15


History
There is a strange history between the clubs with Saints being the dominant team but London Irish always have a knack of throwing a spanner in Saints season. The biggest such event being the Powergen final last season when a rampant Irish team blew Saints and their travelling navy of supporters clear out of the water. There are also years like 1998 when Irish beat Saints twice in a month to end both their cup and league hopes. The other side of the coin are the games when Saints have racked up big scores against the exiles. Like I said...strange history!

This week we take a look back at a game some describe as the most complete performance during THE season of 1999/2000 where Saints beat Irish at the Stoop 20-44. Click below for a match report.
BBC



If you're going to the game...
Check out this guide Madejski Guide

If you can't make it...

There's live commentary on BBC Radio Northampton or live on the Internet via the Official site.
Live audio link

STATS

Historical statistics from Zurich Rugby

London Irish Sportnetwork Site Preview