Saracens have recalled six England internationals including Owen Farrell, Jamie George and Maro Itoje to their starting line-up for the Premiership semi-final against Northampton.

Winger James Ramm returns from a shoulder injury to start for Northampton, with hooker Robbie Smith also back from injury on the bench.

Tom Cruse lines up in the front row for an otherwise unchanged Saints side.

Five-time champions Saracens are featuring in their 14th Premiership semi-final and are aiming to win their first title since the 2018-19 campaign, having dramatically lost to Leicester in last year's final.

The last-minute defeat by Leicester because of Freddie Burns' drop goal has been a motivating factor behind the team's dominating display this campaign.

"I guess it wasn't so much losing the final, it was how we lost it, which is the thing that is driving us I think," Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said.

"It felt like we played within ourselves. It was how we lost, not because we lost.

"Anyone can lose a final - knockout games are hard to win - but when you don't feel that you have given it a proper go, then you carry that all summer. I guess that has driven this season to a degree."

Saracens, who have been runaway league leaders for almost all season, secured a top-two place on 25 March and a key home advantage in the final-four knockout stage.

While they have lost two of their past three league games, they had a number of key players absent, and are remarkably unbeaten at their own ground since January 2022.

Prop George has not played for Saracens since the start of April, while lock Hugh Tizard makes his first start in three games.

Centre Duncan Taylor and back-rower Jackson Wray both start in their final appearances at the StoneX Stadium.

Wray is set to retire at the end of the season having made more than 300 appearances for Saracens, while Taylor is departing after 12 years at the club.

Northampton shake off underdog status

This is the second consecutive season Northampton have reached the semi-finals - and their 11th in total - although the last time they reached the final was in 2014, when they beat Saracens to the title.

Saints are the highest points and try scorers in the league this season and are unbeaten in their past two games, including last month's 38-29 win over Saracens.

They have however only won three Premiership away games this season and last won at StoneX Stadium in 2016.

Director of rugby Phil Dowson would not say his team are the underdogs.

"As far as underdogs go, that's somebody else's opinion and that's based on what they've done in the league this year and what we've done," he told BBC Radio Northamptonshire.

"But come Saturday we won't be worried too much about that - we'll be focused on what we need to do to perform."

Dowson, who stepped up from defence coach at the start of this season, was part of the team's title-winning side in 2014 and said reaching the top four was the club's first target this year.

"I think we should be pleased with that effort and know that it's only part of the plan," he continued.

"We've got a great group of players and an opportunity for 80 minutes on Saturday. We know it's going to be a big challenge but it's been a very big challenge every week this season."

Saracens: Goode, Malins, Lozowski, Tompkins, Maitland, Farrell (capt), Van Zyl; Vunipola, George, Riccioni, Itoje, Tizard, Isieswe, Earl, Wray.

Replacements: Dan, Mawi, Judge, Hunter-Hill, Knight, De Haa, Taylor, Daly.

Northampton: Furbank, Ramm, Dingwall, Hutchinson, Freeman, F. Smith, Mitchell; A. Waller, Cruse, Davison, Ribbans, Moon, Lawes, Ludlam (capt), Augustus.

Replacements: R. Smith, E. Waller, Hill, Salakaia-Loto, Scott-Young, Graham, James, Collins.

Referee: Karl Dickson.