Bristol Bears v Northampton Saints: Big match preview for the game at Ashton Gate

Venue: Ashton Gate, Bristol

Date and kick-off time: Friday, October 25, 2024, 7.45pm

Weather forecast: 12c, mostly cloudy

Live television coverage: TNT Sports

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys

Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe and Harry Walbaum

No.4: Neil Chivers

TMO: Andrew Jackson

Bristol Bears: Lane; Bates, Ravouvou, van Rensburg, Ibitoye; MacGinty, Marmion; Woolmore, Oghre, Lahiff, Dun, Batley; Luatua, B Grondonna, Harding (c).

Replacements: Thacker, Thomas, Kloska, Owen, Heenan, Wolstenholme, Worsley, Elizalde.

Saints: Hendy; Ramm, Litchfield, Hutchinson, Seabrook; Makepeace-Cubitt, James; West, C Langdon, Millar Mills; Mayanavanua, Coles (c); Kemeny, Pearson, Pollock.

Replacements: Wright, Iyogun, Green, Thornbury, Scott-Young, McParland, Savala, Garside.

Not available for selection: Juarno Augustus, Emeka Atuanya, Fraser Dingwall, Sam Graham, Tom Lockett, Alex Mitchell, Burger Odendaal, Toby Thame, Robbie Smith.

International duty: Trevor Davison, Tommy Freeman, George Furbank, Ollie Sleightholme, Fin Smith (all England).

Most recent meeting: Friday, March 22, 2024: Bristol Bears 52 Saints 21 (Gallagher Premiership)

Bristol Bears director of rugby Pat Lam: "We desperately want a win at home - we've had five games, three away, but with the two at home we haven't quite nailed. The penalties against us to actually lose the game at the end weren't necessarily the right calls - we know we could be sitting here with 25 points but we're not. But we're doing so much right. We're in the top four, we're averaging just under four points a game. We have a great opportunity to finish this block well and (be) truly locked in the top four before we take a break. We've lost both (home games) in the last minute of the game really so we're determined to be better than we have been to ensure we get a victory at home that's for us and our supporters."

Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson: "They (Bristol) have been fantastic entertainment. They've got a very different style to pretty much everyone else in the league in terms of how they play. Sometimes you can undermine what the fundamentals and the core foundation of what that game is by looking at the offloads and the scorelines and their exciting, dazzling play, but they've got a very good lineout both in defence and attack. They've got a strong scrum, very good ball carriers like (Rohan Janse) van Rensburg at 12, and some of the forward carriers are outstanding so they're a really, really good outfit, playing exciting rugby that's really entertaining. Everything's on the whole time and (Harry) Randall and (AJ) MacGinty have been outstanding."

Opposition dangerman: Traditional Saints nemesis Harry Thacker is among the replacements and No.8 Fitz Harding scored a hat-trick against Saracens last weekend, but you can’t look past Gabriel Ibitoye for the tag of dangerman this week. The wing has been in phenomenal form and can feel hard done by that he’s not with England right now.

Tom Vickers’ prediction: This is a meeting between two teams with points to prove. Bristol want to get a win at home, having been denied late on in their two games at Ashton Gate this season, while Saints want to banish the memories of recent matches against the Bears. But with the way Bristol have been playing and with the number of backs Saints have missing, this feels like a tough ask for the black, green and gold. Bristol 32 Saints 25.