Bath v Northampton Saints: Full team news for the Gallagher Premiership season opener
Tom James will start at scrum-half for Saints at Bath on Friday night after England star Alex Mitchell was ruled out of the season opener at The Rec.
On Wednesday, Saints boss Phil Dowson revealed that Mitchell, who scored the winning try in the Premiership final against Bath back in June, has undergone scans on an undisclosed injury.
That means James wears the No.9 shirt, with Archie McParland among the replacements.
Burger Odendaal remains sidelined due to the long-term knee injury he picked up in the Premiership showpiece, so Rory Hutchinson and Fraser Dingwall form the centre partnership.
Academy graduate Toby Thame provides centre cover from the bench. Thame has one Premiership appearance to his name, coming on during a defeat at Bath in May.
New club captain George Furbank skippers Saints from full-back, with James Ramm and Ollie Sleightholme lining up on the wing.
Australian flanker Josh Kemeny will make his competitive debut for Saints.
Kemeny, a summer signing from Melbourne Rebels, starts at six in a back row that also includes Tom Pearson and Sam Graham.
Angus Scott-Young continues in the second row, with Temo Mayanavanua on international duty with Fiji, Alex Coles not yet ready to be named in the matchday squad and Tom Lockett injured.
But new recruit Callum Hunter-Hill is among the replacements.
Hunter-Hill, along with props Tom West and Luke Green, is primed to earn a first competitive Saints appearance from the bench.
Juarno Augustus and Tommy Freeman didn’t feature in either pre-season game, but both are among the replacements.
Hooker Robbie Smith is fit enough to be named on the bench after missing last Friday’s win against Bedford Blues.
Mitchell, Odendaal, Lockett, Emeka Atuanya, George Hendy and Tom Litchfield are on the injury list this week.
For Bath, back row forward Miles Reid will start at seven as he makes his 100th appearance for the club.
Ben Spencer remains captain for the 2024/25 season and will continue his leadership from scrum-half.
The fixture could also see a debut double from the bench for former Saints prop Francois van Wyk and ex-Newcastle Falcons flanker Guy Pepper.
Johann van Graan’s selection remains consistent from that of the 2023/24 final, making just four changes to the side that started at Twickenham in June.
Bath: De Glanville; Cokanasiga, Lawrence, Butt, Muir; Russell; Spencer (c); Obano, Dunn, Stuart; Roux, Ewels; Hill, Reid, Barbeary.
Replacements: Annett, van Wyk, Griffin, du Plessis, Pepper, Schreuder, Bailey, Coetzee.
Saints: Furbank (c); Ramm, Dingwall, Hutchinson, Sleightholme; F Smith, James; Iyogun, C Langdon, Davison; Scott-Young, Munga; Kemeny, Pearson, Graham.
Replacements: R Smith, West, Green, Hunter-Hill, Augustus, McParland, Thame, Freeman.