Northampton Saints v London Irish: Tom Vickers' big match preview

Competition: Gallagher Premiership

Venue: cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens, Northampton

Date and kick-off time: Saturday, September 17, 2022, 2pm

Weather forecast: 15c, partly cloudy

Live television coverage: PRTV Live

Referee: Luke Pearce

Saints: Furbank; Sleightholme, Proctor, Hutchinson, Collins; Biggar (c), Mitchell; Waller, Matavesi, Hill; Salakaia-Loto, Moon; Coles, Hinkley, Augustus.

Replacements: Haywood, Iyogun, Petch, Nansen, Scott-Young, Braley, Litchfield, Skosan.

London Irish: Arundell; Loader, Rona, van Rensburg, Hassell-Collins; Jackson, White; Gigena, Cornish, Chawatama; Simmons, Coleman (c); Donnell, Pearson; Rogerson.

Replacements: Miller, Fischetti, Parker, Ratuniyarawa, Cunningham-Smith, Englefield, Morisi, Joseph.

Not considered for Saints selection: Matthew Arden, Callum Burns, Fraser Dingwall, Sam Graham, Tommy Freeman, Joseph Gaffan, Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi, Courtney Lawes, Lewis Ludlam, David Ribbans, Frankie Sleightholme, Karl Wilkins.

Most recent meeting: Saturday, March 26, 2022: London Irish 22 Saints 42 (Gallagher Premiership)

Tom's preview: If you think Saints' start to the season feels fairly tough, you would be right.

In fact, if you just look at last season as a point of reference, you will see how difficult it actually is.

Let me explain.

Saints' first five games of this campaign are as follows: Sale (a), London Irish (h), Leicester (h), Harlequins (a), Wasps (a).

Now let's look at how those games played out in 2021/22.

Saints were beaten 30-6 at Sale, taking nothing from the game.

They did win 23-21 at home to London Irish, taking four points.

But they lost 55-26 at home to Leicester, taking nothing.

And they lost 41-27 at Harlequins, again taking nothing.

They also lost at Wasps, securing just a single point from a 26-20 defeat.

So from that five-game span, they secured just five points from a possible 25 - and yet they still managed to make the play-offs!

They are already a point up on the previous campaign, having managed to salvage a losing bonus point in their 29-22 defeat at Sale last Sunday.

And now they will be desperate to at least match their London Irish result this weekend.

If they can, and they manage to pick up far more than a single point against their next three opponents, you could say progress is being made.

And that is the least you can ask for.

Saints will be eager to comfortably outdo last season's points tally, which proved to be enough to secure fourth place.

They know they must be better in the big games if they are to elevate themselves to where they want to be.

But London Irish continue to take steps forward, so this season's fixture should be even tougher than the one at the Gardens last time round - and that was very tough indeed!

Saints are able to welcome back the likes of Dan Biggar and Rory Hutchinson here.

And they will soon be able to select Courtney Lawes, Lewis Ludlam and Tommy Freeman again.

So this is a big chance for the men who will be challenging those England stars for their starting spot this season.

And Saints will know that if they are to make progress under Phil Dowson, it will be a full squad effort, especially with such tricky fixtures ahead in the new few weeks and beyond.

Tom's prediction: This should be a lively game between two teams who just love to play attacking rugby. Saints need to get up and running at home, and I'm backing them to edge this one. Saints 34 London Irish 27.