Newcastle Red Bulls team to face Northampton Saints

Newcastle Red Bulls have made four changes to their back line for Friday’s Gallagher PREM visit of Northampton Saints.

The 7.45pm kick-off at Kingston Park sees Brett Connon come in at fly-half as Boeta Chamberlain moves to full-back, replacing the injured Ethan Grayson.

Argentina’s Simón Benítez Cruz makes his first start at scrum-half, having impressed from the bench last weekend at Sale Sharks.

Liam Williams starts on the wing for Elliott Obatoyinbo who suffered a head knock last time out, while Oli Spencer comes in for Connor Doherty following a hamstring injury.

On the bench there could be a debut for South African back-three player Stefan Coetzee, who arrived in the UK this week, while England Under-19s centre Rhys Beeckmans is in line for his first Gallagher PREM appearance.

With his side still in pursuit of their first league win of the season in front of what is expected to be another big crowd, head coach Alan Dickens said: “We’re honest, professional people up here, and we’re not sat here pretending everything’s rosy.

“The performances over the last couple of weeks have not been good enough, and it’s on all of us to work together and put it right.

“We’d love to press the fast-forward button but the reality is it takes time, and like we’ve said from the outset, this isn’t a quick fix.

“Every day we’re building that cohesion, new players are arriving, combinations are getting more time training and playing together and we’re building that base of work that you need to have in place to progress as a team.

“Our fans have been tremendously patient and supportive in understanding all of this. We’re very grateful for that, but on the same token we understand there’s an imperative on us to start turning in performances and showing it on the field.

“After two away games it will be great getting back to Kingston Park with the wonderful atmosphere our supporters bring. It’s those little wins that can help get the crowd into the game, like a big tackle, a line-break or a clinical piece of play, so we know the emphasis is on us to deliver those moments and capitalise from there.”

Reflecting on the Derby Weekend loss at Sale Sharks, Dickens said: “I thought for large parts of the second half we stuck together and showed real improvement, but the truth is we were too easy to score against outside of that.

“The players acknowledge that and have been really positive during the week around making the necessary improvements, which we’ll need to do against a good Northampton side.

“We’re starting to get some more of our summer signings on board with the arrivals of Stefan Coetzee and Simón Benítez Cruz, who I thought was outstanding from the bench last week, and that will continue over the next month or two.

“It’s a relatively new team with how late we were into the recruitment market, and it takes time to get that cohesion. We’re playing a bit of catch-up in some respects against teams who have been together for a number of years, but as we go through the next few weeks I’m sure it will come.”

Asked about the potential return of long-time Newcastle captain Callum Chick, who joined Northampton in the summer, Dickens said: “I’m sure Chicky will get a great reception from our supporters, and it’s well deserved after the way he led the side over the past few seasons.

“People move on in sport and he’s done well so far down in Northampton, which is great to see. But we’ve moved on as well, we’ve welcomed some new talent into our own group and it’s all about looking forward.

“It can’t all fall on one person, and you have to have a leadership group. Amanaki Mafi has come in and done a great job with his carrying and turnover ability, but we need to spread the load. That’s what we’re working hard on at the moment, and the attitude from the guys has been really positive.”

Newcastle Red Bulls team v Northampton Saints (Friday, 7.45pm, Kingston Park, live on Discovery+)

15 Boeta Chamberlain, 14 Oli Spencer, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Max Clark, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz; 1 Adam Brocklebank, 2 George McGuigan (captain), 3 Richard Palframan, 4 Jamie Hodgson, 5 Freddie Clarke, 6 Fergus Lee-Warner, 7 Tom Gordon, 8 Amanaki Mafi.

Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Murray McCallum, 18 Luan de Bruin, 19 Oscar Usher, 20 Freddie Lockwood, 21 James Elliott, 22 Rhys Beeckmans, 23 Stefan Coetzee.

Not available for selection: Sammy Arnold, Eduardo Bello, Tom Christie, Joe Davis, Connor Doherty, Ethan Grayson, Joel Grayson, Elliott Obatoyinbo, Sam Stuart, Christian Wade.