Moon bring up century of Saints appearances at Bristol

Alex Moon will make his 100th appearance for Northampton Saints this weekend, as the side head to Bristol Bears in the Premiership Rugby Cup.

The Round 3 clash sees a number of senior players return to Saints’ side as Phil Dowson makes eight changes to his starting XV – with the likes of Trevor Davison, Alex Coles, Angus Scott-Young, Tom James, Fin Smith and Fraser Dingwall all set for their first appearances of the season.

Saints claimed their first win of the Cup competition last weekend with an emphatic 55-5 victory against Cambridge Rugby and head to Bristol in search of back-to-back results as they face Gallagher Premiership opposition for the first time this term.

Moon – who made his debut for Saints in the Premiership Rugby Cup back in 2016 – will lead the side out at Ashton Gate as he brings up a century of appearances in Black, Green and Gold, joining props Davison and Ethan Waller, hooker Curtis Langdon, and lock Tom Lockett in Northampton’s tight five.

A new-look back row completes Saints’ forward pack, with Coles and Scott-Young lining up at flanker for their first game of season, while Sam Graham returns to the side to at No. 8.

Tom James and Fin Smith also come into the starting line-up to man Northampton’s half-back berths, while in-form centre Toby Thame retains his spot in Saints’ midfield alongside captain Dingwall.

Tommy Freeman shifts out to the wing for the clash in Bristol, joining Tom Seabrook and George Hendy in the back three. 

And there are five more players set for their first run outs of the season on Northampton’s bench, with Robbie Smith, Juarno Augustus, George Furbank and James Ramm all primed to enter the action while Emmanuel Iyogun returns from injury to feature for the first time since January.