The Northampton Saints team has been named for tomorrow’s Aviva Premiership Rugby semi-final against Harlequins, being played at the Twickenham Stoop at 2:45pm.

After 22 Rounds of intense Aviva Premiership Rugby action the Saints confirmed their semi-final spot with last Saturday’s bonus point win over Worcester.

But while the Saints put five tries past the Warriors director of rugby Jim Mallinder says that the team will have to step up several gears for tomorrow’s trip to table-topping Harlequins.

“Harlequins have led the Premiership pretty much from start to finish, and will no doubt be feeling confident ahead of tomorrow’s game,” he said. “They have won plenty of big games in tough places and have a team which is playing with confidence.

“The forwards have been providing good ball and Nick Easter, Danny Care and Nick Evans have been guiding the rest of the team into the right areas of the field.

“It is going to be a very difficult game for us, but I believe that we have the right mentality and players to be able to get the result we want. Training has been intense and positive this week and everyone has been focused on the challenge in front of them.

“We know we have the team to do well, now it is up to the players to show what they can do.”

Tomorrow’s game sees Ben Foden become the fourth Saint this season to hit his century of appearances in the black, green and gold – the others being Chris Ashton, Lee Dickson and Roger Wilson – and Mallinder paid tribute to the full back.

“We have seen Ben develop his game consistently over the past few years, and he is now one of the important players we have at Franklin’s Gardens,” the Saints boss added. “He has had an outstanding season for us and has shown how good he is at international level as well.

“He is still improving, however, and with the new contract he signed earlier in the season I’m looking forward to seeing him play many more times for the Saints.”

Tickets remain available for tomorrow’s game at the Twickenham Stoop. Supporters who want to travel should contact the Harlequins ticket office directly.

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS TEAM

TO PLAY HARLEQUINS

Aviva Premiership Rugby Semi-Final

Twickenham Stoop

Saturday, May 12th, 2012

Kick off 2:45pm

15 Ben FODEN

14 Chris ASHTON

13 George PISI

12 James DOWNEY

11 Paul DIGGIN

10 Ryan LAMB

9 Lee DICKSON (capt)

1 Soane TONGA’UIHA

2 Andy LONG

3 Brian MUJATI

4 Mark SORENSON

5 Christian DAY

6 James CRAIG

7 Phil DOWSON

8 Roger WILSON

Replacements

16 Ross MCMILLAN

17 Alex WALLER

18 Paul DORAN JONES

19 Ben NUTLEY

20 Teimana HARRISON

21 Martin ROBERTS

22 Stephen MYLER

23 Tom MAY

This week sees only one change to last week’s starting XV and therefore one change to the bench also.

Mike Brown starts at full back alongside Tom Williams and Sam Smith on the wings. Jordan Turner-Hall and George Lowe continue in the centre outside Nick Evans and Karl Dickson. Dickson comes into the starting line up in place of Danny Care who hasn’t recovered from an injury picked up against Sale Sharks last weekend.

The forward pack is unchanged with Joe Marler, Joe Gray and James Johnston in the front row. Olly Kohn and George Robson start in the second row. Maurie Fa’asavalu, Nick Easter and captain Chris Robshaw complete the forwards in the back-row.

The replacements see Rob Buchanan, Mark Lambert, Will Collier, Tomas Vallejos and Tom Guest covering the forward pack. Richard Bolt comes onto the bench alongside Rory Clegg and Matt Hopper who cover the remaining backs.  

15. Mike Brown
14. Tom Williams
13. George Lowe
12. Jordan Turner-Hall
11. Sam Smith
10. Nick Evans
9. Karl Dickson
1. Joe Marler
2. Joe Gray
3. James Johnston
4. Olly Kohn
5. George Robson
6. Maurie Fa’asavalu
7. Chris Robshaw (c)
8. Nick Easter
16. Rob Buchanan
17. Mark Lambert
18. Will Collier
19. Tomas Vallejos
20. Tom Guest
21. Richard Bolt
22. Rory Clegg
23. Matt Hopper

Mike Brown, Danny Care, Joe Gray, George Lowe, Joe Marler, Ugo Monye, Chris Robshaw, George Robson and Jordan Turner-Hall are included in 42 man squad and Robshaw has been named as captain.

The selection of the nine players reflects their performances this season.  Harlequins finished top of the Aviva Premiership last weekend and have a home semi-final play-off match with Northampton Saints on Saturday.

Seven of the nine players are products of the club’s Academy which was recently assessed by the RFU and Premiership Rugby as being one of the best in the country.

Commenting on the players’ selection, Harlequins Director of Rugby Conor O’Shea said, “I’m pleased on two levels.  First of all for the club as the selection of so many players reflects our ambition and is fantastic recognition of the efforts of our squad this season.  Second, from the players’ perspective, their selection is reward for the hard work they’ve put in.                          

“Given the fact that seven of the nine players are products of the club’s Academy, I am sure they would all want to recognise the work that Collin Osborne put in with them initially in setting up the Academy and this has been continued by Tony Diprose, Howard Graham and Jim Evans,” O’Shea added.

Robshaw made his Harlequins debut in January 2006, leading them to the top spot in the Aviva Premiership Rugby league table at the end of the 2011-12 season.

Redhill-born Robshaw captained Millfield before moving to Harlequins. He was educated at Cumnor House School, Surrey, becoming the captain of Harlequins last season.

“This award is richly deserved,” said Harlequins Director of Rugby Conor O’Shea. “What I like about him is that no matter which accolades come his way or what he achieves we all know what comes first with Chris is the team.

“Chris is the sort of guy who’ll never get above himself. For him it is all about the team. He wants nothing more than for the team to be successful.”

This season Robshaw has had a stellar campaign not only leading his club but taking over the England captaincy after the World Cup, leading his side to four victories in five matches during the 2012 RBS 6 Nations Championship.

Three of the victories were away from Twickenham and the fourth was the 30-9 win over Ireland at HQ.

Despite leading his country this season, Robshaw has still played an impressive 16 Aviva Premiership Rugby matches for Harlequins. Last season he was ever-present, playing in all 22 Aviva Premiership Rugby fixtures.

The Aviva Premiership Rugby Player of the Season award isn’t Robshaw’s only accolade from the Aviva Premiership Rugby Awards as he was selected by former England internationals Austin Healey and Ben Kay as captain of the ESPN Dream Team.  Robshaw was joined by Harlequins’ team-mates Mike Brown, George Lowe, Joe Marler, and Nick Easter.

ESPN analysts Healey and Kay picked five Leicester Tigers in their side, two from Northampton Saints, to add to the five Quins, alongside one player from Saracens and two from Exeter Chiefs.

The full team is: Mike Brown (Harlequins); Horacio Agulla (Leicester), George Lowe (Harlequins), George Pisi (Northampton), Alesana Tuilagi (Leicester); Toby Flood (Leicester), Haydn Thomas (Exeter); Joe Marler (Harlequins), Schalk Brits (Saracens), Dan Cole (Leicester), Samu Manoa (Northampton), Geoff Parling (Leicester), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins) Capt, James Scaysbrook (Exeter) and Nick Easter (Harlequins)

The Land Rover Discovery of the Season award, presented to the best player aged 21 years or under on the day of the Aviva Premiership Rugby Final (26 May 2012), was won by Saracens centre Owen Farrell.

The award caps a remarkable couple of seasons for 20-year-old Farrell, who also made his England debut this season.

The final major award, the QBE Director of Rugby of the Season, was presented to Rob Baxter, the man who has been instrumental in one of the game’s great stories of 2011-12.  Baxter led his side into Aviva Premiership Rugby last season and in this campaign has guided the club to fifth in the Aviva Premiership Rugby table and a place in next year’s Heineken Cup.

The MBNA Try of the Season was awarded to Gloucester full-back Jonny May for his stunning strike against Harlequins.

The Aviva Premiership Awards evening began with one of the most famous figures in Aviva Premiership Rugby, Bob Casey, receiving the Aviva Community Player of the Season Award for his tireless work on a number of community projects.

Rob Baxter wasn’t the only Chief to leave with a trophy as Gonzalo Camacho won the Gatorade Game Changer of the Season Award.

To find a winner, Gatorade used a formula devised by Opta Sportsdata, the official Statistics provider of Premiership Rugby, to award players points for things like metres gained, number of carries, turnovers won and tackles made.

Tom Homer had a sensational season, the prolific kicker ending his campaign with 253 points from his boot to win the Gilbert Golden Boot after Jimmy Gopperth had held the trophy for two seasons.

In the try-scoring stakes it was all about Rob Miller as the Sale Shark crossed the line ten times to pick up the Guinness Top Try Scorer of the Season Award.

Concluding the list of award winners was Newcastle’s Luke Fielden who was named the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Premiership Rugby 7s Series Player of the Season, as the Falcons lifted the trophy in a pulsating final against Saracens.

The winners and nominees in full were as follows:

Aviva Premiership Rugby Player of the Season

Winner: Chris Robshaw

Shortlist: Brad Barritt (Saracens), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), James Scaysbrook (Exeter Chiefs), Julian Salvi (Leicester Tigers) and Nick Wood (Gloucester Rugby)

Land Rover Discovery of the Season

Winner: Owen Farrell

Shortlist: Owen Farrell (Saracens) Jonathan Joseph (London Irish), Matt Kvesic (Worcester Warriors), Joe Launchbury (London Wasps), Christian Wade (London Wasps) and Luke Wallace (Harlequins)

QBE Director of Rugby of the Season

Winner: Rob Baxter

Shortlist: Rob Baxter (Exeter Chiefs), Richard Cockerill (Leicester Tigers) and Conor O’Shea (Harlequins)

MBNA Try of the Season

Winner: Jonny May

Shortlist: Freddie Burns (Gloucester Rugby v Exeter Chiefs), Michael Claassens (Bath Rugby v London Irish), James Downey (Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs), Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby v Harlequins), Alesana Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers v Northampton Saints), Christian Wade (London Wasps v Leicester Tigers), Luke Wallace (Harlequins v London Wasps)      

Gatorade Game Changer of the Season

Winner: Gonzalo Camacho (Exeter Chiefs)

Runners up: Andy Powell (Sale Sharks) – 2nd, Rob Miller (Sale Sharks) – 3rd.

Aviva Community Player of the Season

Winner: Bob Casey

Shortlist: Bob Casey (London Irish), Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints), Will Fraser (Saracens) and James Hudson (Newcastle Falcons)

J.P. Morgan Asset Management Premiership Rugby 7s Series Player of the Season

Winner: Luke Fielden

Shortlist: Danny Bibby (Sale Sharks), Ross Chisholm (Harlequins), Luke Fielden (Newcastle Falcons) and James Short (Saracens).

Guinness Top Try Scorer

Winner: Rob Miller (Sale Sharks) – 10 tries

Gilbert Golden Boot

Winner: Tom Homer (London Irish) – 253 points

ESPN Dream Team

Mike Brown (Harlequins); Horacio Agulla (Leicester), George Lowe (Harlequins), George Pisi (Northampton), Alesana Tuilagi (Leicester); Toby Flood (Leicester), Haydn Thomas (Exeter); Joe Marler (Harlequins), Schalk Brits (Saracens), Dan Cole (Leicester), Samu Manoa (Northampton), Geoff Parling (Leicester), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins) Capt, James Scaysbrook (Exeter) and Nick Easter (Harlequins)

Past winners

Premiership Rugby Player of the Season, 2010-11: Tom Wood (Northampton Saints), 2009-10: Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints), 2008-9: Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), 2007-8:  James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester Rugby). 2006-7: Martin Castrogiovanni (Leicester Tigers). 2005-6:  Mike Catt (London Irish) and 2004-5:  Martin Corry (Leicester Tigers).

Young Player of the Season, 2010-11: Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers), 2009-10:  Ben Youngs, (Leicester Tigers), 2008-9: Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins), 2007-8: Danny Cipriani (London Wasps), 2006-7: Tom Rees (London Wasps), 2005-6: Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers) and 2004-5: Ollie Smith, (Leicester Tigers)

Director of Rugby of the Season, 2010-11: Jim Mallinder (Northampton Saints), 2009-10: Andy Key, (Leeds Carnegie), 2008-9: Richard Cockerill (Leicester Tigers), 2007-8:  Dean Ryan (Gloucester Rugby), 2006-7: Pat Howard (Leicester Tigers), 2005-6: Philippe Saint-Andre (Sale Sharks), 2004-5: and John Wells (Leicester Tigers).

Semi-Final 1:

Harlequins v Northampton Saints – 2.45pm at the Twickenham Stoop – Live on Sky Sports

Semi-Final 2:

Leicester Tigers v Saracens – 5.30pm at Welford Road – Live on ESPN

Stunning tries from Northampton Saints, Gloucester Rugby, Leicester Tigers, London Wasps, Harlequins and Bath Rugby have made it on to the shortlist for the MBNA Try of the Season for next week’s Aviva Premiership Rugby Awards.

The scores came from a long list of tries selected by supporters at the end of each Aviva Premiership Rugby round and whittled down to the final six by a panel of media professionals.

The shortlist is:

1. Christian Wade London Wasps v Leicester Tigers
2. Jonny May, Gloucester Rugby v Harlequins
3. Luke Wallace Harlequins v London Wasps
4. Michael Claassens, Bath Rugby v London Irish
5. Alesana Tuilagi, Leicester Tigers v Northampton Saints
6. Freddie Burns, Gloucester Rugby v Exeter Chiefs
7. James Downey, Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs

The shortlist was selected by a panel of – Jill Douglas (Freelance), Miles Harrison (Sky Sports), Alastair Eykyn (5Live), Mick Cleary (Daily Telegraph), Ian Stafford (Mail on Sunday), Nick Mullins (ESPN), David Rogers (Getty Images), Alan Pearey (Rugby World). They were joined by Corin Palmer (Premiership Rugby’s Head of Academies and Development) and Paul Morgan (Premiership Rugby’s Communication Director) who chaired the panel.
The winner will be announced on 8 May at the sold out Aviva Premiership Awards, at The London Hilton, on Park Lane. The Awards night will be shown on ESPN at 9pm on 9 May.

Click below for a video of the shortlist plus a few more

A penalty try, coupled with touchdowns for Jack Arnott and Chad Slade, ensured the Braves ended their campaign with an unblemished record in the competition.

Fly-half Myles Dorrian did the rest of the damage for the home side as he converted the final try to go alongside four earlier penalties.

In reply, Harlequins countered with three penalties of their own from fly-half Rory Clegg. However, it was not enough to prevent the top flight’s new additions from claiming their first piece of Premier silverware.

Undefeated in the A League all season, the Braves entered into this final showpiece in buoyant mood and with virtually the same starting line-up that had defeated Leicester Tigers in the semi-final the week previous.

The home side’s sole change came at scrum-half where Aussie Pat Phibbs was ruled out through injury, so former Harlequins player Junior Poluleuligaga came in to fill the number nine jersey with Kevin Barrett added to the bench.

Harlequins, fresh from their own semi-final win at Northampton Saints, also arrived with a powerful line-up that included a number of established first team stars such as Matt Hopper, Tom Casson, Will Skinner and Clegg, who gave his side an early lead when he spotted a penalty after three minutes after the home side had been penalised for infringing at a ruck.

Minutes later and Clegg had the chance to double his tally when the Braves were pulled up by referee Andrew Small for illegally binding at a scrum bang on halfway. This time the Quins’ No.10 was unable to hit the mark with his lengthy punt and the scoreline remained unchanged.

The Braves made the most of the let-off and they levelled the game up on 14 minutes when fly-half Dorrian slotted a straight-forward penalty from 22 metres out.

Clegg and Dorrian traded penalties apiece to take the score onto six-all, before the Braves edged in front for the first time just past the first quarter. A powerful shove from the Exeter eight midway inside the Harlequins half saw the visiting pack crumble and up stepped Dorrian to administer a third successful kick of the night.

The kicking duel between the respective No.10s was dominating proceedings and Clegg restored parity just moments later when he dispatched a quality kick from wide on the right after the Braves fell afoul of referee Small for taking out Chris York in the air.

The stalemate didn’t last long, however, as the Braves – who had beaten their rivals twice already this season – claimed the opening try of the night on 34 minutes. Using their forwards to punch a hole through the middle, the Braves worked the ball back to Dorrian, whose clever grubber kick in behind the visiting defence put Quins on the back foot.

Initially their appeared no real danger, but when scrum-half Karl Dickson fumbled on his own line, it gifted Exeter Academy youngster Arnott the perfect opportunity to pounce for a score, which Dorrian was unable to convert from wide on the right.

As overhead conditions worsened during the half-time break, it was the Braves who emerged the brighter on the resumption as some strong running from forwards Dave Ewers and Chad Slade allowed the Devonians the opportunity to get on the front foot and pen Harlequins back deep inside their own 22.

Although the initial pressure failed to bring any real reward, the Braves finally made the breakthrough on 49 minutes when Dorrian landed his fourth penalty of the night after visiting flanker Luke Wallace was adjudged not to have released at the tackle deep inside his own 22.

With the inclement weather doing little to help either side’s attacking endeavours, it was Harlequins who had the chance to reduce the deficit just before the hour mark when Clegg was afforded another pot at goal following another indiscretion by the Chiefs front-row at a scrum. Sadly for Clegg, his effort from 40 metres out caught on the wind and the chance was lost.

The Braves duly made the most of the missed chance and having added Luke Cowan-Dickie and Aly Muldowney into the fray for Chris Budgen and Chris Bentley, the latter making his final appearance for the club, the fresh muscle up front helped work the perfect opening for Exeter’s second unconverted try of the game.

Using a line-out drill just inside the Harlequins 22, the Braves merged as one up front to drive in field towards the visiting line. Although Harlequins did well to repel the initial wave of attacks, they could do little when Exeter drove for a third time, powering skipper Chad Slade over from close range much to the delight of the home faithful.

The Samoan’s touchdown gave Exeter the perfect breathing space entering the final stages and with both sides having run their benches, it was the Exeter young-guns of Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jon Vickers and Lloyd Fairbrother who helped to add the coup de grace as their robust scrummaging helped to win Exeter a penalty try, converted by Dorrian, with virtually the final play of the game.

It was a fitting conclusion to what has been a memorable season for the Braves, who throughout this memorable campaign have ably combined youth with experience to great effect.

Braves: L Arscott (H Slade 69); J Arnott (C Crane 79), N Sestaret, S Hill, M Foster; M Dorrian, J Poluleuligaga (K Barrett 60); C Budgen (L Cowan-Dickie 63), S Alcott (J Vickers 76), J Andress (L Fairbrother 79); C Bentley (A Muldowney 63), C Slade (capt, H Stupple 76); D Ewers, B White, J Phillips.

Tries – Arnott, C Slade, Penalty Try; Conversion – Dorrian; Penalties – Dorrian (4)

Harlequins: R Chisholm (O Lindsay-Hague 69); S Stegmann, M Hopper, T Casson (B Urdapilleta 64), C Walker; R Clegg, K Dickson (R Bolt 72); M Lambert (D Marfo 52), A Croall (T Standfield 72), W Collier (K Sinckler 66); S Twomey (G Merrick 63), P Browne L Wallace, W Skinner (capt), C York (J Trayfoot 52).

Penalties – Clegg (3)

Referee: A Small

Sam Smith retains his place on the left wing after last weekend’s Man of the Match performance, with Mike Brown and Ugo Monye in the back three. Nick Evans returns at fly half outside Danny Care at scrum half. Jordan Turner Hall and George Lowe continue to partner in the centres.

The starting pack remains unchanged from last week’s victory over London  Wasps. Joe Marler, Rob Buchanan and James Johnston provide the front row.  Olly Kohn and George Robson remain in the second row. Maurie Fa’asavalu continues at blindside alongside captain Chris Robshaw and Nick Easter at number 8.

The replacements see Aston Croall, Mark Lambert, Will Collier covering in the front row. Tomas Vallejos and Tom Guest will looking to impact in the second and back row respectively. Karl Dickson and Rory Clegg cover at half back, while Ross Chisholm covers the remainder of the backline.

Harlequins team to face Leicester Tigers

15. Mike Brown

14. Ugo Monye

13. George Lowe

12. Jordan Turner-Hall

11. Sam Smith

10. Nick Evans

9. Danny Care

1. Joe Marler

2. Rob Buchanan

3. James Johnston

4. Olly Kohn

5. George Robson

6. Maurie Fa’asavalu

7. Chris Robshaw (C)

8. Nick Easter

16. Aston Croall

17. Mark Lambert

18. Will Collier

19. Tomas Vallejos

20. Tom Guest

21. Karl Dickson

22. Rory Clegg

23. Ross Chisholm

The teams occupying first and second place in the Aviva Premiership Rugby table meet at the Twickenham Stoop in the penultimate round of league fixtures.

Skipper Murphy missed Leicester’s bonus-point win at Northampton last weekend but is fit to resume at Quins in the only change to the starting line-up.

Second-rower Graham Kitchener comes in for Craig Newby among the replacements and Scott Hamilton provides cover in the backline.

“We’ve got a tough run-in but we started that with a win in a very difficult game at Northampton last weekend and now we go to Quins before the last round against Bath,” said Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill.

“Harlequins have proved themselves over the course of a long season – they won at Welford Road, they beat Toulouse in Europe and they beat Saracens at Wembley just a few weeks ago, so they are still going well.

“We’ve been playing well too, we’ve got ourselves into a good position now and we are still going hard for a place in the semi-finals.”

Leicester Tigers (v Harlequins, The Twickenham Stoop, Saturday 3.15pm)

15 Geordan Murphy (c)

14 Horacio Agulla

13 Manusamoa Tuilagi

12 Anthony Allen

11 Alesana Tuilagi

10 Toby Flood

9 Ben Youngs

1 Marcos Ayerza

2 George Chuter

3 Dan Cole

4 George Skivington

5 Geoff Parling

6 Tom Croft

7 Julian Salvi

8 Thomas Waldrom

Replacements

16 Tom Youngs

17 Logovi’i Mulipola

18 Martin Castrogiovanni

19 Graham Kitchener

20 Steve Mafi

21 Sam Harrison

22 Billy Twelvetrees

23 Scott Hamilton

Rob has been attached to the Harlequins Academy since July 2007 and made his senior, starting debut in the Aviva Premiership on 31stMarch 2012 against Saracens at Wembley Stadium. He has also played for England at under 16, under 18 and under 20 age levels and was among the stand out players for England in last year’s final of the IRB Junior World Cup.

“Rob is one of the best up and coming English hookers,” said John Kingston, Harlequins Head Coach, when he announced the re-signing today (17thApril).  “He is a joy to work with and has already made an impressive impact at senior level.  We look forward to developing him to his full potential to reach the heights of our other home grown players that are already playing for England. We are delighted to have him commit his future with us.”

Commenting on his new contract Rob Buchanan said, “I am very excited about being part of this Harlequins squad going forward.  We have a talented group with a lot of world class players in it and have a real chance of winning some silverware over the next few seasons. I feel this is the best place for my development under the guidance of the club’s quality coaching team.”

Player Profile at a Glance

• Name:                                      Rob Buchanan (20)
• Position:                                   Hooker
• International caps:                     –
• Other representative honours:    England U16, U18, U20
• Date of Birth:                            13th May 1991
• Former Clubs:                           –
• Height:                                      1.83m (6’ 0”)
• Weight:                                     105kg (16st 7lbs)