| venue: franklins gardens date: Saturday, April 13th kick off: 20:00 BST |
| coverage: Listen to live radio commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sport Extra and BBC Radio Northampton. Live text on BBC Sport website and app |
Northampton Saints will face a Bulls team that has made 13 changes in the Investec Champions Cup quarter-finals.
South Africa cited confusion in movement in the build-up, with only winger Sebastian de Klerk and lock JF van Heerden maintaining their positions.
Saints, on the other hand, made three changes, with Juano Augustus, Alex Mitchell and George Hendy starting the game.
Saints will be playing the Champions Cup quarter-finals at Franklin's Gardens for the first time since lifting the trophy in 2000.
The Bulls, the last remaining South African team in the competition, left several Springboks at home, including Bucks Willie le Roux, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Kanan Moody.
Bulls head coach Jake White said earlier this week that players and staff would have to take eight different flights to get to games in groups.
“There are no sports teams that fly out on eight different planes as I speak today,” White said.
“Some people go to Birmingham, some people go to London. Some people arrive at 9 o'clock, some people arrive at 2 o'clock. We're talking about a race to be the best in the world.
“That doesn't make sense.”
In response to Mr White's criticism, SA Rugby announced it had spent around £175,000 on business class flights for Bulls players and staff.
The South African Union said it was “impossible” to arrange business class travel on a single flight due to factors such as high demand and “delays in confirming required seats”.
Saints captain Lewis Ludlam was dropped to the bench as Sam Graham moved to flanker and Augustus started at number eight, while Hendy was rewarded with two late tries. win against munster There is a place on the wing.
England's Mitchell returned from a wrist injury as a substitute against Munster and returned to scrum-half, while full-back George Farbank was on the bench recovering from a calf injury sustained in the Six Nations loss to France. sitting
Mitchell said his confidence is growing as the hosts aim to win the Premiership and European Cup double.
Mitchell told BBC Rugby Union Weekly: “We've had a great season and there's a lot of confidence across the team and it shows on the pitch.”
“There's a lot of buzz around the club at the moment. We're performing well and winning games. We feel like we can compete on both fronts and do a really good job in both tournaments.”
lineup
Northampton: Ram. Hendy, Freeman, Dingwall, Slightholme. Smith, Mitchell. Iyogun, Langdon, Davison, Moon, Coles, Rose (captain), Graham, Augustus.
Replacement: Matabesi, Waller, Hill, Mayanavanua, Scott-Young, Ludlum, James, Firbank.
Bull: Williams. De Klerk, Immelman, Forster, Jacobs. Smith, Berger. Matanzima, van der Merwe, Smith, Swanepoel, van Heerden, Carr, Gumede, Hanekom.
Replacement: Wessels, Smith, Cropper, Olivier, Ludwig, Johannes, van der Walt, Hendricks.
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
