The other main change to the squad is the reselection of Shane Drahm in his favoured position at fly-half and Bruce Reihana back at full-back.
Shane Drahm will revert back to his favoured position of fly-half following two games in the full-back role.
Drahm and Bruce Reihana will swap positions for this weekend's round one game in the Heineken Cup's pool three against Glasgow Warriors, which is being played at Hughenden and shown live on Sky Sports 2.
Other changes to the starting line-up have been largely caused by injury with Dan Richmond starting his first game of the season after Steve Thompson suffered a rib injury against Sale Sharks last weekend. Richmond's place on the bench has been filled by Johan van Wyk – providing him his first opportunity to wear the Saints colours.
Centre Mark Tucker has also been ruled out of any involvement in the squad after he broke his right arm in training yesterday. Robbie Morris will also not feature due to the right calf tear he sustained on Saturday and Selborne Boome has been sidelined with bone bruising to his right knee.
Academy centre Andy Vilk has been drafted in to cover Tucker's absence along with top Wanderers scorer Chris Budgen for Morris and Ed O'Donoghue onto the bench with both Matt Lord and Damien Browne in the starting XV. It will be O’Donoghue’s first appearance in a Saints shirt and Lord's 50th game, which will earn him a club cap at the end of the season.
Further changes include the selection of John Rudd on the wing and Wylie Human's move to the bench.
Head coach Alan Solomons said today: "I thought Drahmy played with a little more confidence at the weekend and a good sign of that was the high ball he took in his own 22. So I have put him back at fly-half and Bruce back in his rightful position at full-back."
He added: "The Heineken Cup is a fresh focus, but it is just as tough a competition as the Zurich Premiership. Every side that plays in the Heineken Cup will really get up for these games. They will be the highlight of the season. It will be a massive challenge against Glasgow on Sunday."
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
15 BRUCE REIHANA
14 John Rudd
13 Marc Stcherbina
12 Chris Hyndman
11 BEN COHEN
10 Shane Drahm
9 MARK ROBINSON
1 TOM SMITH
2 Dan Richmond
3 ROBBIE KEMPSON
4 Matt Lord
5 Damien Browne
6 Darren Fox
7 CORNE KRIGE (capt)
8 ANDREW BLOWERS
Replacements
16 Johan van Wyk
17 Chris Budgen
18 Ed O'Donoghue
19 Grant Seely
20 Johnny Howard
21 Andy Vilk
22 Wylie Human
International players in capital letters