McParland marks 50th cap as Mitchell returns to bench for Northampton's Premiership Final

Archie McParland will reach his half-century of appearances for Northampton Saints in Saturday’s Premiership Final against Exeter, with England and Lions scrum-half Ben Mitchell — returning from injury — having to settle for a place on the bench in the sole change to the matchday 23 that beat Leicester in the semi-finals.

Mitchell replaces Jonny Weimann as the back-up nine, with McParland retaining his starting berth alongside fly-half Fin Smith. The 21-year-old is the youngest Saint to play in the professional era, having made his debut aged 17 years and 222 days in 2022. This season has been a genuine breakthrough for him: he has featured in 24 of Northampton’s matches and scored 14 tries.

Captain George Furbank starts at fullback in what will be his farewell appearance before joining Harlequins, with George Hendy and Tommy Freeman on the wings. Emmanuel Iyogun, Curtis Langdon and Elliot Millar Mills form the front row, while Ed Prowse partners Alex Coles in the second row. Josh Kemeny, Tom Pearson and Henry Pollock complete an unchanged back row — Pollock having been particularly influential against Leicester last weekend, carrying for 110 metres from 27 carries and making 11 tackles.

Northampton name a six-two split on the bench. Ten members of Saturday’s matchday 23 were part of the squad that beat Bath in the 2024 final to claim the club’s second English title.

Director of Rugby Phil Dowson acknowledged the weight of the occasion while urging his squad to treat the performance itself as routine. “This is week 50 for this group, having started preseason back in July, and now this is the last hurdle,” he said. “We want to make the occasion special and the performance normal.”

Dowson also paid respect to Exeter’s resilience, pointing to how the Chiefs came back from a large deficit against Northampton earlier in the season and their comeback win over Bath in the semi-finals. “The tenacity, cohesion, and belief that Exeter have has been on show throughout this season,” he said. “The final is a brand-new game and we’ll need to be aware of those threats, but our focus is firmly on ourselves.”