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Six England stars return after Six Nations for East Midlands Derby
By Josh Raisey
England fly-half Fin Smith will return to Northampton Saints’ starting line-up a week after the Guinness Six Nations campaign came to a close when his side host Leicester Tigers on Friday in the East Midlands Derby in the Gallagher Premiership.
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The 22-year-old will be joined by his England team-mates Fraser Dingwall, who featured in the final two matches against Italy and Wales, and Henry Pollock, who made his debut from the bench against Wales, scoring two tries in the 14-68 victory at the Principality Stadium. Dingwall will captain the side and join Smith in the starting line-up, with Pollock among the replacements.
The trio will line up against three of their England team-mates in Leicester colours, scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet, full-back Freddie Steward and tighthead prop Joe Heyes, fresh from scoring his first England try against Wales.
After starting in the opening round against Ireland in Dublin, Steward did not feature again all Championship, while van Poortvliet played in the final two rounds from the bench.
Of the six playing, only Smith and Heyes featured in every match as Steve Borthwick’s side finished the tournament in second place. Heyes was a substitute in every match, and was joined on the bench by Smith in round one, who thereafter started every match as he claimed the England No.10 jersey.
With only seven rounds remaining, champions Northampton are nine points adrift of the play-off spots, with the Tigers occupying fourth place. A home loss at Franklin’s Gardens on Friday would make the Saints’ chances of defending their title at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium very slim.
Northampton Saints: 15 George Hendy, 14 James Ramm, 13 Fraser Dingwall (c), 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Tom Seabrook, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Tom James; 1 Emmanuel Iyogun, 2 Curtis Langdon, 3 Trevor Davison, 4 Temo Mayanavanua, 5 Tom Lockett, 6 Josh Kemeny, 7 Tom Pearson, 8 Juarno Augustus
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Luke Green, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Chunya Munga, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Jonny Weimann, 23 Burger Odendaal
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Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Solomone Kata, 12 Joseph Woodward, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Jack van Poortvliet; 1 Nicky Smith, 2 Julian Montoya, 3 Joe Heyes, 4 Cameron Henderson, 5 Harry Wells, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Tommy Reffell, 8 Olly Cracknell
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 James Whitcombe, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Côme Joussain, 20 Emeka Ilione, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Ben Volavola, 23 Izaia Perese
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