Assistant coach Mark Hopley calls for positive response from Northampton players

Northampton have vowed to bounce back from their Saracens humiliation to keep their Champions Cup run alive in Clermont.

England star Courtney Lawes will make his 200th appearance for the club in Saturday’s match against the French powerhouses, where the visitors know they must pick up points to boost their chances of knockout rugby.

Saints suffered a record 57-13 defeat to Saracens last weekend, but assistant coach Mark Hopley believes the east midlands men often fare best in extreme adversity.

Northampton lost 55-24 to Saracens at Twickenham in September then hit back with victory over local rivals Leicester – and Hopley insists Saints can repeat that feat this weekend.

“We’ve shown once this season we can be resilient and bounce back, and that’s what we need again this week,” he said. “We worked unbelievably hard at the end of last season to qualify for this competition, and we don’t want that to go to waste. We must learn our lessons and be far better than last week.

“We’ve talked about how hard we worked to get into this competition. We didn’t do ourselves justice last weekend, but we’re a resilient bunch.”

Heavyweight Australia lock Will Skelton could make his first appearance as a permanent Saracen after recovering from several injuries. The imposing second row will take a seat on the bench for Sarries’ Allianz Park clash with Ospreys, who have lost Wales scrum-half Rhys Webb to a knee injury.

Skelton made eight appearances last season in a short-term spell with Saracens, and now has the chance to kick-start his second stint with the north Londoners.

Valentino Mapapalangi will make his Champions Cup debut as Leicester host Castres, with the Tonga flanker replacing the banned Mike Williams.

Jean Kleyn has shaken off a neck problem to start for Munster to start at lock, while Tyler Bleyendaal has picked up a neck issue of his own, so Ian Keatley starts at fly-half.

Johnny Sexton has beaten a dead leg to start Leinster’s trip to Glasgow, who have Stuart Hogg fit for the first time this term. Scotland full-back Hogg has not played since suffering a broken cheekbone on the summer’s British and Irish Lions tour, when colliding accidentally with team-mate Conor Murray.