Preview: Preview: Northampton Saints vs Leicester Tigers - prediction, team news, lineups

Northampton Saints welcome Leicester Tigers to Franklin's Gardens on Friday evening for the first of this weekend's Premiership Rugby playoff semi-finals.

The Saints fell to defeat late on against Harlequins at Twickenham Stoop in their final match of the regular league campaign, while the Tigers were unable to book a home semi-final as they narrowly lost 24-22 to Bath at the Recreational Stadium.

Match preview

Despite falling to defeat at Franklin’s Gardens against Harlequins on the final day, Northampton sailed into the playoffs with a home semi-final and a spot at the top of the league table for the second time in the previous three seasons.

After a disappointing attempt at retaining their Premiership crown last season, finishing eighth with just 44 points, Phil Dowson’s men have bounced back in emphatic fashion this campaign, winning 14 games and tallying five more points than second placed Bath.

In fact, no side has earned more than the Saints’ total of 74 points after 18 matches in a single Premiership season since the league was reduced from 13 teams in the 2022-23 campaign.

Although they were beaten last weekend, Northampton head into the playoffs in great form too, winning 10 of their previous 12 Premiership matches and failing to lose a single league game at Franklin's Gardens this season.

Having fallen to a 41-17 defeat against Leicester just one month ago, Northampton will no doubt be eager to inflict some payback on the Tigers this Friday evening and book their place in the final for only the second time in the previous 12 seasons.

Leicester narrowly missed out on booking their own home semi-final last weekend as they were narrowly beaten 24-22 by Bath at the Recreational Stadium.

Starting the day in third place and trailing the Blue, Black and Whites by only two points, the Tigers knew that any win would likely have them facing either Johann van Graan’s side or the Exeter Chiefs this weekend.

However, despite a late crusade on the Bath try line, Geoff Parling’s men fell agonisingly short in Somerset and instead were leapfrogged by the Chiefs in the table, dropping to fourth.

It is not just last Saturday’s game that proved costly for the Tigers though, who picked up just 12 points in their final five league matches, a tally only Bristol Bears and Newcastle Red Bulls failed to meet over that stretch.

Despite this, Leicester will undoubtedly head into the match confident that they can turn their sticky patch around and overcome a Northampton side who they have beaten in four of the previous six encounters between the teams.

Northampton Premiership Rugby form:

Leicester Tigers Premiership Rugby form:

Team News

After fielding a heavily rotated side against Harlequins last weekend, the Saints have reverted back to full strength for the visit of Parling's men, making 11 changes to the starting 15.

Amongst those returning to the backline are England internationals George Furbank, Tommy Freeman and Finn Smith, with Tom Litchfield the only one to keep his place at outside centre.

Emmanuel Iyogun, who is set to tally his 100th Northampton appearance on Friday night, is one of six changes in the pack for the home side, alongside the likes of Alex Coles and Henry Pollock.

Leicester have made two changes to the scrum that faced Bath last Saturday, with Cameron Henderson and Olly Cracknell making way for George Martin and Joaquin Moro.

As for the backs, there are a trio of alterations for the Tigers with Ollie Hassell-Collins joining injury returnees Freddie Steward and Billy Searle in the starting lineup.

Northampton Saints starting lineup:

15 Furbank, 14 Freeman, 13 Litchfield, 12 Hutchinson, 11 Hendy, 10 Smith, 9 McParland; 1 Iyogun, 2 Langdon, 3 Millar Mills, 4 Coles, 5 Prowse, 6 Kemeny, 7 Pearson, 8 Pollock

Replacements:

16 Wright, 17 Fischetti, 18 Green, 19 van der Mescht, 20 Lockett, 21 Chick, 22 Weimann, 23 Dingwall

Leicester Tigers starting lineup:

15 Steward, 14 Radwan, 13 Wand, 12 Bailey, 11 Hassell-Collins, 10 Searle, 9 van Poortvleit; 1 Smith, 2 Blamire, 3 Heyes, 4 Martin, 5 Chessum, 6 Liebenberg, 7 Reffell, 8 Moro

Replacements:

16 Clare, 17 van der Flier, 18 Hurd, 19 Henderson, 20 Cracknell, 21 Whiteley, 22 Kata, 23 Perese

We say: Northampton Saints 28-20 Leicester Tigers

While both teams failed to pick up their desired results last weekend, Friday's match is bound to be highly competitive, with neither side convincingly pulling away over the course of the 80 minutes.

However, we think that Northampton will just have the edge over the Tigers and build on their fine season thus far by booking their spot at the Allianz Stadium next Sunday.