Attwood will mark his 150^th appearance for the Club, whilst Joseph will bring up a century of appearances in the Blue, Black and White.

Nathan Catt and Henry Thomas line-up either side of Tom Dunn in the front row. Attwood continues his second row partnership with co-captain Luke Charteris, whilst the back row remains unchanged from last Saturday’s bonus-point victory over Newcastle Falcons. Elliott Stooke remains in the number six jersey, with Francois Louw and Zach Mercer completing the pack.

Co-captain Will Chudley and Rhys Priestland link-up once again in the half-back pairing, whilst Jackson Willison returns to the starting line-up at inside centre. Willison is joined by Joseph in the midfield, as Bath face an in-form Northampton side.

Ruaridh McConnochie and Cooper Vuna come in on the wings, whilst Darren Atkins starts at full-back for the trip to Franklin’s Gardens.

Director of Rugby, Todd Blackadder, said: “You can obviously see that Northampton have got their confidence up. They’ve got some big ball carriers and they are a momentum team, so it’s a good challenge for us. We are not overawed by the challenge, but really excited for it.

“We lost Roko (Semesa Rokoduguni) last week and unfortunately we are going to have do without Aled Brew for a prolonged period. It’s hugely disappointing to lose two experienced players, but injuries are part and parcel of sport. That’s why the last month of games was hugely important for us in terms of building that depth in the squad. We have absolute confidence in the squad we have and the team we put out there on the weekend.”

Bath Rugby team to face Northampton Saints

15. Darren Atkins

14. Ruaridh McConnochie

13. Jonathan Joseph

12. Jackson Willison

11. Cooper Vuna

10. Rhys Priestland

9. Will Chudley (co-capt)

1. Nathan Catt

2. Tom Dunn

3. Henry Thomas

4. Dave Attwood

5. Luke Charteris (co-capt)

6. Elliott Stooke

7. Francois Louw

8. Zach Mercer

Replacements

16. Jack Walker

17. Jacques van Rooyen

18. Max Lahiff

19. Charlie Ewels

20. Paul Grant

21. Max Green

22. Freddie Burns

23. Max Clark

Northampton Saints team

15 George Furbank
14 Ahsee Tuala
13 Rory Hutchinson
12 Piers Francis
11 Taqele Naiyaravoro
10 James Grayson
9 Alex Mitchell

1 Alex Waller (c)
2 Reece Marshall
3 Paul Hill
4 David Ribbans
5 Api Ratuniyarawa
6 James Haskell
7 Lewis Ludlam
8 Tom Wood

Replacements

16 James Fish
17 Francois Van Wyk
18 Ben Franks
19 Alex Moon
20 Jamie Gibson
21 Cobus Reinach
22 Luther Burrell
23 Ken Pisi

Attwood and Joseph to mark milestones for Bath Rugby against Northampton Saints

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