NORTHUMBERLAND will make 11 changes for today’s County Championship Division Two Plate final against North Midlands.

Both teams will be back in the top tier of next season’s Bill Beaumont Cup, but the sides which take to the field at Alnwick RFC will bear little relation to the XVs which sealed promotion.

England Counties’ trip to Spain on Tuesday has deprived Northumberland of skipper and Blaydon hooker Matt Hall, as well as the Tynedale pair of lock Richard Boyle and scrum-half Harry Peck.

Tynedale prop Peter Southern will skipper the team.

In all the 22-man squad will feature 12 changes, with France-based Jack Smales replacing his brother Hamish at full-back.

North Midlands coach Scott Bemand has rested his Championship players.

“The side that won promotion was comprised mainly of players from Championship clubs and they will not be available this weekend,” he explained. “They made themselves available to play county rugby for a couple of weeks after the end of the Championship season and they have achieved what we set out to achieve this season by winning promotion.”

NORTHUMBERLAND: Jack Smales (USON Nevers); Peter Moralee (Alnwick), Harry Mountain (Team Northumbria), Tom Bramwell, Alan Rogers; Matthew Outson (all Tynedale), John Scott (Percy Park); Peter Southern (Tynedale) capt, Andrew Dunn (Percy Park), Alex Westgarth (Gosforth), Craig Fidler, Michael Langlands (all Percy Park), Jonny Stephenson (Beverley), Nick Watt (Team Northumbria), Rory Morrison (Morpeth). Replacements: Seb Trotter (Stewarts Melville), Ali Gray (Tynedale), Ashley Smith (Percy Park), Ben Bell (Morpeth), John Coffey (Northern), Alistair Hall (Old Northamptonians), David Dickinson (Morpeth).