Northampton Saints v Cardiff Rugby: Full team news for Sunday's game

Phil Dowson has opted to rest some of his England stars, with Manny Iyogun, Alex Coles, Henry Pollock and Tommy Freeman all given this weekend off.

But Fin Smith is in the matchday 23 as he is selected among the replacements, with Anthony Belleau coming in to start at fly-half.

George Hendy returns to action, having missed the superb Gallagher PREM win against Bath last Saturday due to the hip pointer problem picked up during the defeat at Bristol Bears on the previous weekend.

Toby Thame also makes his comeback from injury as he starts at inside centre, giving Fraser Dingwall a breather on the bench.

James Pater makes his Champions Cup debut as he again starts at full-back, while Ollie Sleightholme remains on the wing after his sensational hat-trick against Bath.

Alex Mitchell keeps his place at scrum-half, with Archie McParland again among the replacements.

Up front, Danilo Fischetti comes in for Iyogun, with Jordan Els providing loosehead cover on the bench.

Robbie Smith replaces Curtis Langdon, who is also among the replacements.

Josh Taylor makes his Champions Cup bow as the summer signing takes the place of Pollock in the No.7 shirt.

Tom Lockett comes in to partner JJ van der Mescht in the second row.

Italy prop Ion Neculai and talented young flanker Charlie Ulcoq are named on the bench as they prepare to make their first Champions Cup appearances for Saints.

Callum Chick will captain the side from No.8 on Sunday.

Ben Alexander, Trevor Davison, Malik Faissal, Luke Green, Tom Litchfield, Tom Pearson, Aidan Pugh, Edoardo Todaro and Lefty Zigiriadis remain unavailable for selection.

As for Cardiff, they have made nine changes to the team that lost 29-5 in the United Rugby Championship game at Leinster last weekend.

Taulupe Faletau, who was a late withdrawal in Dublin, is set for his first appearance since March as he returns to the back row alongside Semisi Paea, who starts for the first time.

In the second row, ex-Leicester lock Tom Manz makes his competitive debut for the club, lining up alongside Rory Thornton.

Elsewhere in the pack, Daf Hughes and Sam Wainwright are handed starts in the front row, with the former captaining the side.

There are three further changes in the back-line. Jarrod Evans makes his first start since returning to Cardiff in the summer, while Steffan Emanuel is handed the No.12 jersey and Tom Bowen returns to the wing.

Wales international Josh Adams is named on the bench after recovering from the calf injury he suffered in the summer.

Saints: 15 James Pater; 14 Ollie Sleightholme, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Toby Thame, 11 George Hendy; 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Alex Mitchell; 1 Danilo Fischetti, 2 Robbie Smith, 3 Cleopas Kundiona; 4 Tom Lockett, 5 JJ Van Der Mescht; 6 Josh Kemeny, 7 Josh Taylor, 8 Callum Chick (c).

Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Jordan Els, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 Ed Prowse, 20 Charlie Ulcoq, 21 Archie McParland, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Fraser Dingwall.

Cardiff Rugby: 15 Matty Young; 14 Mason Grady, 13 Harri Millard, 12 Steffan Emanuel; 11 Tom Bowen; 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Aled Davies; 1 Danny Southworth, 2 Daf Hughes (c), 3 Sam Wainwright; 4 Tom Manz, 5 Rory Thornton; 6 Semisi Paea, 7 Dan Thomas, 8 Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Rhys Barratt, 18 Joe Cowell, 19 Josh McNally, 20 Lucas De La Rua, 21 Johan Mulder, 22 Callum Sheedy, 23 Josh Adams.