Northampton Saints v Leicester Tigers: Full team news for the cup curtain raiser
Guest player Mitieli Vulikijapani is one of six players set to make their Saints debut in Friday night's Premiership Rugby Cup opener against Leicester Tigers at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens (kick-off 7.45pm).
Vulikijapani, a 30-year-old Fijian back who has been playing for Hull FC in the Betfred Super League and is also a British Army gunner who serves with the 47th Regiment Royal Artillery, will wear the No.14 shirt against Tigers.
The Saints backline also includes the likes of Tom Seabrook, Charlie Savala, Tom Litchfield and George Hendy, while England Under-20s duo Archie McParland and George Makepeace-Cubitt get the nod at nine and 10 respectively.
In the pack, there will be a Saints debut for No.6 Fyn Brown, who was a summer signing from Championship side Doncaster Knights.
Tarek Haffar, Craig Wright and Luke Green are handed a chance to form a new-look front row, while Chunya Munga captains Saints from the second row.
On the bench, there are potential Saints debuts for Nathan Langdon, Sonny Tonga'uiha, son of former Saints star Soane, Will Spencer and young scrum-half Jonny Weimann.
There is also some Saints experience in reserve as Manny Iyogun, Josh Kemeny and James Ramm are among the replacements.
Juarno Augustus, Emeka Atuanya, Fraser Dingwall, Sam Graham, Tom Lockett, Alex Mitchell, Burger Odendaal, Toby Thame and Robbie Smith remain on the injured list.
Trevor Davison, Tommy Freeman, George Furbank, Ollie Sleightholme and Fin Smith are on international duty as England start their Autumn Nations Series campaign against New Zealand at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham on Saturday afternoon.
As for Tigers, seven players are set to make their senior competitive debut for the club, including the back-three of George Pearson, Jack Kinder and Malelili Satala.
Côme Joussain, Tim Hoyt and Will Wand will get their first starts for the club, with Matt Rogerson captaining the team from blindside flanker.
Senior Academy coaches, Matt Smith and Neil Fowkes, will lead the Premiership Cup programme.
Saints: 15 George Hendy; 14 Mitieli Vulikijapani (guest player), 13 Tom Litchfield, 12 Charlie Savala, 11 Tom Seabrook; 10 George Makepeace-Cubitt, 9 Archie McParland; 1 Tarek Haffar, 2 Craig Wright, 3 Luke Green; 4 Chunya Munga (c), 5 Gavin Thornbury; 6 Fyn Brown, 7 Angus Scott-Young; 8 Henry Pollock.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Langdon, 17 Emmanuel Iyogun, Sonny Tonga’uiha, 19 Will Spencer, 20 Josh Kemeny, 21 Jonny Weimann, 22 James Ramm, 23 Ewan Baker.
Leicester Tigers: 15 George Pearson; 14 Malelili Satala, 13 Will Wand, 12 Solomone Kata, 11 Jack Kinder; 10 Jamie Shillcock, 9 Tom Whiteley; 1 James Whitcombe, 2 Finn Theobald-Thomas, 3 Tim Hoyt; Côme Joussain, 5 Tom Manz, 6 Matt Rogerson, 7 Emeka Ilione, 8 Kyle Hatherell.
Replacements: 16 Archie Vanes, 17 Archie van der Flier, 18 Henry Mountford, 19 Lewis Chessum, 20 Sam Williams, 21 Charlie Bemand, 22 Charlie Myall, 23 Tom Threlfall.