Vainikolo last appeared in the preseason friendly against Connacht when he had to leave the action early having injured his groin and, with off the field matters behind him for the time being, has been in full training this week.

Similarly, Buxton has been pushing hard for selection for the past two weekends having recovered from the foot injury that ended his 2008-9 campaign early and finally gets the nod on the blindside flank.

Elsewhere in the backline, Mike Tindall returns in the centre and resumes the captaincy, James Simpson-Daniel is restored to the starting line up and Dave Lewis gets his first start of the season at scrum half.

Up front, Marco Bortolami comes in for Alex Brown in the second row whilst Akapusi Qera replaces the suspended Andrew Hazell.

There is a welcome return on the replacements bench for crowd favourite Olivier Azam whilst Paul Doran-Jones makes the matchday 23 for the first time this season.

When he spoke at the club's media session earlier this week, Head Coach Bryan Redpath acknowledged that the performance against London Irish hadn't been great but that the team are looking forward and not back.

"We didn't perform particularly well and didn't get any continuity in our phase game. We're aware of that and many of our mistakes last week were as a result of not having a great platform to work from."

"We're not going to dwell on it too much but there does need to be a reaction on Saturday as we face a tough game against Northampton."

And Redpath is given more options this weekend with the return of some experienced campaigners.

"Hazey's obviously suspended but Q (Akapusi Qera) is back fit and healthy and he'll be relishing the chance to play at Kingsholm."

We'll also have Olivier Azam back which is a bonus although Scott Lawson has been outstanding over the past four games. Olly's got different attributes but he hasn't played for a long time so needs to work on his match fitness."

"Peter Buxton is also desperate to play but he hasn't played for several months. He's a big man with a great engine and can help with some of the driving and power issues. It's good to have him back."

And, finally, a word on Northampton Saints.

"If we use the ball smartly then we can create opportunities. But they are a very competitive team who work very hard for each other. They have a competitive back row and a dangerous back three. They'll be tough opponents."

Gloucester Rugby:

Olly Morgan; James Simpson-Daniel, Mike Tindall (capt), Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu; Lesley Vainikolo; Nicky Robinson, Dave Lewis; Alasdair Dickinson, Scott Lawson, Greg Somerville; Dave Attwood, Marco Bortolami; Peter Buxton, Akapusi Qera, Gareth Delve

Replacements:

Olivier Azam, Paul Doran-Jones, Pierre Capdevielle, Alex Brown, Alasdair Strokosch, Rory Lawson, Freddie Burns, Tom Voyce