Gloucester v Northampton Saints: Full team news for Saturday's clash at Kingsholm

Alex Coles, Fraser Dingwall and Rory Hutchinson are back to boost Saints in Saturday's festive fixture at Gloucester (kick-off 3pm).
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All three players will start at Kingsholm, with the return of Dingwall and Hutchinson seeing Tom Litchfield and Tommy Freeman switch to the wing.

Saints are depleted in the wide areas following injuries to James Ramm, George Hendy, Tom Seabrook and Ollie Sleightholme.

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Jake Garside has made the matchday squad and will provide wing cover from the bench.

Rory Hutchinson (photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images)Rory Hutchinson (photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images)
Rory Hutchinson (photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images)

Up front, Coles replaces Alex Moon in the second row, while Paul Hill comes in for Trevor Davison at tighthead.

Davison and Moon are rested and not in the squad as Elliot Millar Mills and Chunya Munga, who has recovered from concussion, are named on the bench.

Former Gloucester player Callum Braley provides cover at nine as he is among the replacements with Tom James now serving a three-week ban.

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James, Ramm, Hendy, Seabrook, Sleightholme, Lewis Ludlam, Joel Matavesi, Robbie Smith and Alex Waller make up the unavailable list this week.

There's good news for Gloucester with the return of Adam Hastings and Ruan Ackermann from injury.

The front five is unchanged from the side that defeated Clermont 28-17 at Kingsholm in the Challenge Cup last weekend, with Freddie Clarke and Matias Alemanno packing down behind the front row of Harry Elrington, Santi Socino and Fraser Balmain once more. Socino bagged himself two tries against the French side.

Ackermann comes into the back row, where he joins Zach Mercer and captain Lewis Ludlow.

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Hastings comes in at fly-half alongside Stephen Varney, with Max Llewellyn and Chris Harris retaining their starting spots in midfield.

Last weekend's player of the match, Santi Carreras, moves to full-back to accommodate Hastings, and he's flanked by Ollie Thorley and Louis Rees-Zammit in the back three.

Jack Clement drops to the bench in the only change to the replacements from last week.

Gloucester: Carreras; Rees-Zammit, Harris, Llewellyn, Thorley; Hastings, Varney; Elrington, Socino, Balmain; Clarke, Alemanno; Ackermann, Ludlow (c), Mercer.

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Replacements: McGuigan, Ford-Robinson, Gotovtsev, Jordan, Clement, Chapman, S Atkinson, Evans.

Saints: Furbank (c); Litchfield, Dingwall, Hutchinson, Freeman; F Smith, Mitchell; E Waller, Langdon, Hill; Mayanavanua, Coles; Lawes, Pearson, Graham.

Replacements: S Matavesi, Haffar, Millar Mills, Munga, Augustus, Braley, Savala, Garside.