End of season how the squad was used analysis
By Saint Ted
July 21 2026
This is my analysis of how the whole squad has been used over the season....
Over the season I've been logging all the matches, who's played frm the squad and who for.
Credit to the following sites for where I got the data
This analysis is only bases on players who have made senior appearences for Saints this season, so doesn't include the likes of Hugh Shields who represented England in the U20s. I have included Prem, Prem Cup, Champions Cup, Internationals and any other senior appearences made by anybody thats played in the Saints senior squad.
My Whole spreadsheet can be found by clicking right here on this link
In total 60 players represented Northampton Saints this season, with 63 players from the whole squad playing fixtures for Saints and other teams, only one squad member made no appearences.
Throughout the season we had 5 guest platyers join the squad and earned caps, along with a trialist, an U18 and 11 senior academy players made appearences.
The average age of the squad (including senior academy) for the season (based on age at the start of the season) was 23.09 years, the average age of the playing squad was 25.36 years
We more than hit our EQPs quota of 15 EQPs players per match, we hit 17.26 players per match.
In terms of player availability I've grouped this in two ways....
Average number of players unavailable per match was 8.94 (call it 9) so roughly 16% of the squad unavailable through injury.
Average number of players unavailable through injury, suspension, international duty, that's 12.43 or 21.80%.
For reference (according to Claude AI) although there are no official published reports, clubs average roughly 10 players missing a week through injury then 14 players missing over the six nations, so much as it seems bad, in terms of how is pans out across the season we're pretty much in line, in my opinion I feel like our injuries have seemed worse than normal as we have been hit hard in the key personnel areas.
Along with Saints players have nothced up appearences for the following teams....
| England |
| England A |
| England U18 |
| England U20 |
| Italy |
| Scotland |
| Scotland U20 |
| Zimbabwe |
| Bedford |
| Cambridge |
| Chinor |
143 international representations
105 appearences out on loan.
The first two league games we lost the lions players to enforced rest (Pollock, Mitchell, Smith and Freeman)
Other league matches effected by enforced rest after internationals...
Bristol Away, 29th November - Fischetti, Coles, Pollock, Mitchell
Newcastle Home, 21st March - Fischetti, Pollock, Smith, Freeman
Who did England break??
Archie McParland 1 game out after an England A game
Trevor Davison 1 game, came back for 18 mins against Saracens then out for the season
Alex Coles 7 games out
Alex Mitchell, twice once in 6 nations 5 games out, then again in camp 3 games out
Special mentions to Todaro, season ending injury in Italy camp and Millar-Mills one game out after six nations.
Who's played the most
First up, we will look at saints appearences.
Callum Chick heads this list, we had 18 players hit the 20 match mark this season for Saints
| Player | Saints Matches |
| Callum Chick | 29 |
| JJ van der Mescht | 27 |
| Ed Prowse | 27 |
| Archie McParland | 27 |
| George Hendy | 27 |
| Craig Wright | 26 |
| Emmanuel Iyogun | 25 |
| Tom Litchfield | 25 |
| Rory Hutchinson | 24 |
| Danilo Fischetti | 22 |
| Robbie Smith | 22 |
| Sam Graham | 22 |
| Tom Pearson | 22 |
| Josh Kemeny | 21 |
| Fraser Dingwall | 21 |
| Luke Green | 20 |
| Tom Lockett | 20 |
| Henry Pollock |
20 |
In terms of total matches Fischetti and Pollock lead this one, both going over the World Rugby statement of no player should exceed 30 match involvements, 30 players played 20 minutes or more.
| Player | Total matches |
| Danilo Fischetti | 33 |
| Henry Pollock | 32 |
| Callum Chick | 29 |
| Archie McParland | 29 |
| George Hendy | 29 |
| Tommy Freeman | 29 |
| Emmanuel Iyogun | 28 |
| Rory Hutchinson | 28 |
| JJ van der Mescht | 27 |
| Ed Prowse | 27 |
| Craig Wright | 27 |
| Fraser Dingwall | 27 |
| Alex Coles | 27 |
| Toby Thame | 26 |
| Fyn Brown | 26 |
| Tom Litchfield | 25 |
| Fin Smith | 25 |
| Alex Mitchell | 25 |
| Sonny Tonga’uiha* | 24 |
| Tom Pearson | 23 |
| Robbie Smith | 22 |
| Sam Graham | 22 |
| Jonny Weimann* | 22 |
| Josh Kemeny | 21 |
| Tom Lockett | 21 |
| Luke Green | 20 |
| Cleopas Kundiona | 20 |
| Elliot Millar Mills | 20 |
| James Pater* | 20 |
| Ollie Scola* | 20 |
Now for minutes played, for some reason I only did a total for all matches on this.
26 players played over 1000 minutes this season, this also shows that much as Pollock and Fischetti played over the max number of matches, they are a fair way off the most amount of game time.
| Player | Mins |
| Tommy Freeman | 2132 |
| Rory Hutchinson | 1892 |
| Alex Coles | 1871 |
| Fin Smith | 1810 |
| Fraser Dingwall | 1771 |
| George Hendy | 1683 |
| Callum Chick | 1640 |
| Fyn Brown | 1584 |
| Henry Pollock | 1550 |
| Tom Litchfield | 1494 |
| Danilo Fischetti | 1472 |
| Tom Pearson | 1454 |
| Alex Mitchell | 1385 |
| Archie McParland | 1336 |
| Josh Kemeny | 1332 |
| Emmanuel Iyogun | 1275 |
| George Furbank | 1271 |
| JJ van der Mescht | 1222 |
| Ed Prowse | 1222 |
| Anthony Belleau | 1204 |
| Tom Lockett | 1151 |
| Archie Benson | 1136 |
| Toby Thame | 1134 |
| James Pater* | 1115 |
| Craig Wright | 1078 |
| Amena Caqusau | 1034 |
Who's played where?
First table shows how many starts and replacements each squad member has had....
| Player | Starts | Replacements | Total |
| Joe Cowell*** | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Will Davies-King*** | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Trevor Davison | 13 | 1 | 14 |
| Danilo Fischetti | 9 | 13 | 22 |
| Luke Green | 11 | 9 | 20 |
| Emmanuel Iyogun | 18 | 7 | 25 |
| Cleopas Kundiona | 5 | 12 | 17 |
| Elliot Millar Mills | 5 | 10 | 15 |
| Ollie Scola* | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Sonny Tonga’uiha* | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Tom West | 6 | 7 | 13 |
| Ben Alexander*** | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Curtis Langdon | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Marco Manfredi | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Robbie Smith | 12 | 10 | 22 |
| Henry Walker | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Craig Wright | 12 | 14 | 26 |
| Archie Appleby* | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aiden Ainsworth-Cave* | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Emeka Atuanya | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Archie Benson | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| James Bennett*** | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Fyn Brown | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Alex Coles | 15 | 0 | 15 |
| Callum Chick | 19 | 10 | 29 |
| Sam Graham | 12 | 10 | 22 |
| Jack Kelleher*** | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Josh Kemeny | 20 | 1 | 21 |
| Jack Lawrence* | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Lewis**** | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Tom Lockett | 13 | 7 | 20 |
| JJ van der Mescht | 20 | 7 | 27 |
| Chunya Munga | 10 | 9 | 19 |
| Tom Pearson | 18 | 4 | 22 |
| Henry Pollock | 14 | 6 | 20 |
| Ed Prowse | 16 | 11 | 27 |
| Angus Scott-Young | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Charlie Ulcoq* | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Tom James | 2 | 11 | 13 |
| Archie McParland | 16 | 11 | 27 |
| Alex Mitchell | 13 | 3 | 16 |
| Aiden Pugh* | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Jonny Weimann* | 4 | 8 | 12 |
| Anthony Belleau | 15 | 4 | 19 |
| Fin Smith | 17 | 0 | 17 |
| Fraser Dingwall | 16 | 5 | 21 |
| Rory Hutchinson | 18 | 6 | 24 |
| Tom Litchfield | 20 | 5 | 25 |
| Henry Lumley* | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Billy Pasco* | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Freddie St John* | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Toby Thame | 10 | 8 | 18 |
| Amena Caqusau | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| Tommy Freeman | 17 | 2 | 19 |
| George Furbank | 17 | 1 | 18 |
| Will Glister* | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| George Hendy | 21 | 6 | 27 |
| James Martin | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| James Pater* | 6 | 5 | 11 |
| James Ramm | 13 | 2 | 15 |
| Thomas Rowe** | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Ollie Sleightholme | 11 | 3 | 14 |
| Edoardo Todaro* | 13 | 0 | 13 |
This next table is huge, it lists each player, what position they played and how many times....
| Player | Position | Position Name | Times Played |
| Joe Cowell*** | 17 | Replacement | 3 |
| Will Davies-King*** | 18 | Replacement | 1 |
| Trevor Davison | 3 | Tighthead Prop | 13 |
| Trevor Davison | 18 | Replacement | 1 |
| Danilo Fischetti | 1 | Loosehead Prop | 9 |
| Danilo Fischetti | 17 | Replacement | 13 |
| Luke Green | 3 | Tighthead Prop | 11 |
| Luke Green | 17 | Replacement | 1 |
| Luke Green | 18 | Replacement | 8 |
| Emmanuel Iyogun | 1 | Loosehead Prop | 18 |
| Emmanuel Iyogun | 17 | Replacement | 7 |
| Cleopas Kundiona | 3 | Tighthead Prop | 5 |
| Cleopas Kundiona | 18 | Replacement | 12 |
| Elliot Millar Mills | 3 | Tighthead Prop | 5 |
| Elliot Millar Mills | 18 | Replacement | 10 |
| Ollie Scola* | 1 | Loosehead Prop | 2 |
| Ollie Scola* | 17 | Replacement | 4 |
| Sonny Tonga’uiha* | 3 | Tighthead Prop | 1 |
| Sonny Tonga’uiha* | 18 | Replacement | 3 |
| Tom West | 1 | Loosehead Prop | 6 |
| Tom West | 17 | Replacement | 7 |
| Ben Alexander*** | 16 | Replacement | 1 |
| Curtis Langdon | 2 | Hooker | 5 |
| Curtis Langdon | 16 | Replacement | 3 |
| Marco Manfredi | 2 | Hooker | 1 |
| Marco Manfredi | 16 | Replacement | 2 |
| Robbie Smith | 2 | Hooker | 12 |
| Robbie Smith | 16 | Replacement | 10 |
| Henry Walker | 2 | Hooker | 5 |
| Henry Walker | 16 | Replacement | 5 |
| Craig Wright | 2 | Hooker | 12 |
| Craig Wright | 16 | Replacement | 14 |
| Aiden Ainsworth-Cave* | 19 | Replacement | 2 |
| Aiden Ainsworth-Cave* | 20 | Replacement | 1 |
| Emeka Atuanya | 20 | Replacement | 1 |
| Archie Benson | 6 | Blindside Flanker | 4 |
| Archie Benson | 7 | Openside Flanker | 1 |
| Archie Benson | 19 | Replacement | 2 |
| Archie Benson | 20 | Replacement | 1 |
| James Bennett*** | 5 | Lock | 1 |
| James Bennett*** | 19 | Replacement | 3 |
| Fyn Brown | 7 | Openside Flanker | 2 |
| Fyn Brown | 8 | Number 8 | 2 |
| Fyn Brown | 19 | Replacement | 1 |
| Fyn Brown | 20 | Replacement | 2 |
| Alex Coles | 4 | Lock | 13 |
| Alex Coles | 6 | Blindside Flanker | 2 |
| Callum Chick | 6 | Blindside Flanker | 2 |
| Callum Chick | 8 | Number 8 | 17 |
| Callum Chick | 20 | Replacement | 6 |
| Callum Chick | 21 | Replacement | 4 |
| Sam Graham | 7 | Openside Flanker | 7 |
| Sam Graham | 8 | Number 8 | 5 |
| Sam Graham | 20 | Replacement | 6 |
| Sam Graham | 21 | Replacement | 4 |
| Jack Kelleher*** | 20 | Replacement | 1 |
| Josh Kemeny | 6 | Blindside Flanker | 20 |
| Josh Kemeny | 19 | Replacement | 1 |
| Jack Lewis**** | 7 | Openside Flanker | 1 |
| Jack Lewis**** | 19 | Replacement | 1 |
| Jack Lewis**** | 20 | Replacement | 1 |
| Tom Lockett | 4 | Lock | 9 |
| Tom Lockett | 5 | Lock | 2 |
| Tom Lockett | 6 | Blindside Flanker | 2 |
| Tom Lockett | 19 | Replacement | 4 |
| Tom Lockett | 20 | Replacement | 3 |
| JJ van der Mescht | 5 | Lock | 20 |
| JJ van der Mescht | 19 | Replacement | 7 |
| Chunya Munga | 4 | Lock | 4 |
| Chunya Munga | 5 | Lock | 5 |
| Chunya Munga | 6 | Blindside Flanker | 1 |
| Chunya Munga | 19 | Replacement | 5 |
| Chunya Munga | 20 | Replacement | 4 |
| Tom Pearson | 6 | Blindside Flanker | 1 |
| Tom Pearson | 7 | Openside Flanker | 17 |
| Tom Pearson | 20 | Replacement | 3 |
| Tom Pearson | 21 | Replacement | 1 |
| Henry Pollock | 7 | Openside Flanker | 3 |
| Henry Pollock | 8 | Number 8 | 11 |
| Henry Pollock | 20 | Replacement | 3 |
| Henry Pollock | 21 | Replacement | 3 |
| Ed Prowse | 4 | Lock | 9 |
| Ed Prowse | 5 | Lock | 7 |
| Ed Prowse | 19 | Replacement | 9 |
| Ed Prowse | 20 | Replacement | 2 |
| Angus Scott-Young | 6 | Blindside Flanker | 3 |
| Charlie Ulcoq* | 7 | Openside Flanker | 4 |
| Charlie Ulcoq* | 20 | Replacement | 1 |
| Tom James | 9 | Scrum-half | 2 |
| Tom James | 21 | Replacement | 9 |
| Tom James | 22 | Replacement | 2 |
| Archie McParland | 9 | Scrum-half | 16 |
| Archie McParland | 21 | Replacement | 6 |
| Archie McParland | 22 | Replacement | 5 |
| Alex Mitchell | 9 | Scrum-half | 13 |
| Alex Mitchell | 21 | Replacement | 1 |
| Alex Mitchell | 22 | Replacement | 2 |
| Aiden Pugh* | 21 | Replacement | 2 |
| Jonny Weimann* | 9 | Scrum-half | 4 |
| Jonny Weimann* | 21 | Replacement | 5 |
| Jonny Weimann* | 22 | Replacement | 3 |
| Anthony Belleau | 10 | Fly-half | 15 |
| Anthony Belleau | 22 | Replacement | 3 |
| Anthony Belleau | 23 | Replacement | 1 |
| Fin Smith | 10 | Fly-half | 17 |
| Fraser Dingwall | 12 | Inside Centre | 16 |
| Fraser Dingwall | 22 | Replacement | 1 |
| Fraser Dingwall | 23 | Replacement | 4 |
| Rory Hutchinson | 12 | Inside Centre | 10 |
| Rory Hutchinson | 13 | Outside Centre | 8 |
| Rory Hutchinson | 22 | Replacement | 3 |
| Rory Hutchinson | 23 | Replacement | 3 |
| Tom Litchfield | 11 | Left Wing | 1 |
| Tom Litchfield | 13 | Outside Centre | 19 |
| Tom Litchfield | 22 | Replacement | 2 |
| Tom Litchfield | 23 | Replacement | 3 |
| Henry Lumley* | 13 | Outside Centre | 2 |
| Henry Lumley* | 22 | Replacement | 2 |
| Billy Pasco* | 13 | Outside Centre | 1 |
| Billy Pasco* | 22 | Replacement | 1 |
| Freddie St John* | 22 | Replacement | 3 |
| Toby Thame | 12 | Inside Centre | 9 |
| Toby Thame | 13 | Outside Centre | 1 |
| Toby Thame | 22 | Replacement | 4 |
| Toby Thame | 23 | Replacement | 4 |
| Amena Caqusau | 11 | Left Wing | 6 |
| Amena Caqusau | 23 | Replacement | 3 |
| Tommy Freeman | 13 | Outside Centre | 4 |
| Tommy Freeman | 14 | Right Wing | 12 |
| Tommy Freeman | 15 | Full-back | 1 |
| Tommy Freeman | 22 | Replacement | 1 |
| Tommy Freeman | 23 | Replacement | 1 |
| George Furbank | 10 | Fly-half | 1 |
| George Furbank | 15 | Full-back | 16 |
| George Furbank | 23 | Replacement | 1 |
| George Hendy | 11 | Left Wing | 7 |
| George Hendy | 14 | Right Wing | 2 |
| George Hendy | 15 | Full-back | 12 |
| George Hendy | 23 | Replacement | 6 |
| James Martin | 11 | Left Wing | 2 |
| James Martin | 14 | Right Wing | 2 |
| James Martin | 15 | Full-back | 2 |
| James Martin | 22 | Replacement | 1 |
| James Martin | 23 | Replacement | 1 |
| James Pater* | 10 | Fly-half | 2 |
| James Pater* | 11 | Left Wing | 1 |
| James Pater* | 14 | Right Wing | 1 |
| James Pater* | 15 | Full-back | 2 |
| James Pater* | 22 | Replacement | 2 |
| James Pater* | 23 | Replacement | 3 |
| James Ramm | 11 | Left Wing | 8 |
| James Ramm | 14 | Right Wing | 3 |
| James Ramm | 15 | Full-back | 2 |
| James Ramm | 23 | Replacement | 2 |
| Thomas Rowe** | 14 | Right Wing | 1 |
| Ollie Sleightholme | 11 | Left Wing | 4 |
| Ollie Sleightholme | 14 | Right Wing | 7 |
| Ollie Sleightholme | 23 | Replacement | 3 |
| Edoardo Todaro* | 11 | Left Wing | 6 |
| Edoardo Todaro* | 14 | Right Wing | 7 |
Now finally, based on the number of starts per position, this would be the most played team of the season....
| Player | Position | Position Name | Times Played |
| Emmanuel Iyogun | 1 | Loosehead Prop | 18 |
| Robbie Smith | 2 | Hooker | 12 |
| Trevor Davison | 3 | Tighthead Prop | 13 |
| Alex Coles | 4 | Lock | 13 |
| JJ van der Mescht | 5 | Lock | 20 |
| Josh Kemeny | 6 | Blindside Flanker | 20 |
| Tom Pearson | 7 | Openside Flanker | 17 |
| Callum Chick | 8 | Number 8 | 17 |
| Archie McParland | 9 | Scrum-half | 16 |
| Fin Smith | 10 | Fly-half | 17 |
| James Ramm | 11 | Left Wing | 8 |
| Fraser Dingwall | 12 | Inside Centre | 16 |
| Tom Litchfield | 13 | Outside Centre | 19 |
| Tommy Freeman | 14 | Right Wing | 12 |
| George Furbank | 15 | Full-back | 16 |
| Craig Wright | 16 | Replacement | 14 |
| Danilo Fischetti | 17 | Replacement | 13 |
| Cleopas Kundiona | 18 | Replacement | 12 |
| Ed Prowse | 19 | Replacement | 9 |
| Sam Graham | 20 | Replacement | 6 |
| Tom James | 21 | Replacement | 9 |
| Toby Thame | 22 | Replacement | 4 |
| George Hendy | 23 | Replacement | 6 |
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
the main takeaway is freemo surely will need some more rest next year.
I also think special mention should go to Chick, he's (I think) the only player to appear in all 20 prem games this year, which is a very cool achievement considering the success of the season. McParland and Iyogun got closest with 18 each. I wonder if anyone else managed that in previous title winning years.
Edit: i checked and no-one did it in 2024.
In 2014 the following played all 24(!) games: Calum Clark, Alex Waller, Phil Dowson
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2026:07:21:15:19:50 by Smooothsides.
Fantastic piece and thank you for your work and time on this.
Very informative and certainly when the figures are in front of you in Black and White it just shows how much our guys have given not just to the club but at international level over a very long season.
Hopefully they can all rest up now for a while, not sure when pre-season starts or how many are likely to go to Sri Lanka if it happens.
If they need help carrying their bags I'm available and I'm sure some of you would be willing too.
Thanks again, all I did this season was to record each team selected.
Personally I hope Litchfield does feature and JJ already would have for any other nation!
