Stephen Myler will play at full-back as Saints strive to maintain their winning start to the Heineken Cup campaign against Castres in Toulouse tomorrow night (Fri).
James Wilson has failed to recover from the injury he picked up in last weekend’s win over Glasgow, and with Ben Foden missing long-term due to his ankle injury, Myler switches from 10 to 15, with Ryan Lamb stepping in to play at fly-half.
Saints director of rugby Jim Mallinder is expecting a tough game in France, and isn’t overly happy the fixture comes hot omn the heels of Sunday’s clash with Warriors.
“The tournament scheduling has not been particularly kind to us in the first two rounds, and having just five days to prepare for a tough match is certainly not ideal,” said Mallinder.
“Having played Castres in both of our last two Heineken Cup campaigns we have an idea of what to expect – some big runners, strong set piece work and accurate goal kicking.
“We also know how difficult Castres are to play at home. They have not lost in front of their own fans this season, and even though the game is in Toulouse they will still be very difficult to beat.
However we are going to France in good spirits after showing our character last Sunday to fight back and secure a bonus point win, and we will be doing everything we can to get the positive result we want.”
Saints team: Stephen Myler; Ken Pisi, George Pisi, Dom Waldouck,Vasily Artemyev; Ryan Lamb, Lee Dickson; Soane Tonga’uiha, Dylan Hartley, Brian Mujati, Samu Manoa, Courtney Lawes, Phil Dowson, Tom Wood, Rhys Oakley. Replacements: Mike Haywood, Alex Waller, Paul Doran-Jones, Mark Sorenson, GJ Van Velze, Martin Roberts, Tom May, Scott Armstrong.
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