Neil Back

Leeds Carnegie Head Coach Neil Back has made five changes to his starting line up for Saturday’s massive game at Northampton Saints.

Three of the changes come in the forwards with skipper Marco Wentzel ruled out with a calf injury. Kearnan Myall moves from the back row to the second row in his final appearance for Leeds before he joins Sale next season. The back row is shuffled with Rhys Oakley moving to six and Alfie To’oala coming in at number eight.

The other two changes come in the front row with Mike MacDonald and Juan Gomez starting at props with Gareth Hardy and Phil Swainston moving to the bench.

There are two changes in the back line with centre Scott Barrow coming in for Lachlan MacKay, who can not play because MacDonald and Gomez are the two overseas players in the line up. Peter Wackett returns on the wing allowing Michael Stephenson to move back to full back in place of Christian Lewis-Pratt, who moves to the bench to face his former club.

Leeds will give a debut to England Sevens international Uche Oduoza on the bench. The former Worcester and Newcastle flyer has been training with Leeds for a number of months and played in the A team win over Northampton last month. He had a knee reconstruction last year which prevented him from joining Leeds Carnegie last summer and instead concentrated on his law degree studies in York however he will get his chance off the bench against the Saints.

The team in full is:

15. Michael Stephenson

14. Lee Blackett

13. Henry Fa’afili

12. Scott Barrow

11. Peter Wackett

10. Adrian Jarvis

9. Scott Mathie

1. Mike MacDonald

2. Steve Thompson

3. Juan Gomez

4. Daniel Browne

5. Kearnan Myall

6. Rhys Oakley

7. Hendre Fourie

8. Alfie To’oala

16. Phil Nilsen

17. Gareth Hardy

18. Gareth Denman

19. Phil Swainston

20. Tom Denton

21. Dan White

22. Christian Lewis-Pratt

23. Uche Oduoza