Four games take place in the Premiership on Saturday, while Newcastle Falcons and Saracens close out the weekend’s action at Kingston Park on Sunday.
Saturday
Gloucester v Northampton Saints
Matt Banahan and Danny Cipriani will make their first competitive starts for Gloucester as they kick-off their 2018/19 Premiership season with a home fixture against Northampton Saints at Kingsholm.
The Cherry and Whites come into Saturday’s season opener on the back of pre-season friendly victories over Ulster and the Dragons, although the Saints will be a far different proposition with league points at stake.
Banahan and Cipriani are joined as newcomers in the match-day squad by hooker Franco Marais, who is named amongst the replacements, in a Gloucester side skippered by Ed Slater.
Meanwhile, Alex Waller will lead out Northampton for the first time as club co-captain with Chris Boyd naming his squad to take on Gloucester.
Fly-half Dan Biggar, flanker James Haskell and prop Ben Franks all make their first competitive appearances in black, green and gold at Kingsholm, while hooker James Fish will run out for the first time in the Premiership after scoring six tries in three pre-season matches.
England captain Dylan Hartley headlines a bench packed with both experience and youth as new director of rugby Boyd goes in search of an opening league victory following pre-season wins over Ospreys, Dragons and Glasgow Warriors.
Ahsee Tuala continues his run at full-back after starting 11 of Saints’ last 12 matches, with Nafi Tuitavake and Tom Collins looking to cause the Cherry and Whites trouble on the wings.
There’s a familiar look to Northampton’s midfield with England internationals Piers Francis and Luther Burrell named in the centres, but British & Irish Lion Biggar will line-up alongside Cobus Reinach in the Premiership for the first time.
Waller, Fish and Franks pack down together again after an accomplished showing from the front three against Glasgow, while two towering locks in David Ribbans and Courtney Lawes provide plenty of height in Saints’ second-row.
Meanwhile Teimana Harrison and Heinrich Brüssow join Haskell in the back-row to complete an unchanged pack from the side that beat the Scots 41-15 at Franklin’s Gardens last Friday.
Hartley, Api Ratuniyarawa, Francois van Wyk and Ken Pisi – who scored a crucial try the last time these sides met – provide experience from the bench, while four Saints academy graduates in Lewis Ludlam, Ehren Painter, James Grayson and Alex Mitchell will also look to make their mark in the second half.
Form: Gloucester Rugby’s only two victories in round 1 since 2009 were at Newcastle in 2015 and at home to then defending champions Exeter twelve months ago. Gloucester concluded their last Premiership Rugby campaign with just one home win in their last four games at Kingsholm. Northampton Saints have been defeated in round 1 for the past three seasons and finished off 2017/18 with two wins in the last three rounds of Premiership Rugby. The Saints won just twice away from home in the tournament last season, at London Irish in round 4 and at Leicester in round 20. Northampton’s only defeat in their last eleven clashes with Gloucester in all competitions was 22-29 at Kingsholm in round 6 of Premiership Rugby last season.
The teams:
Gloucester: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Callum Braley, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 Ruan Ackermann, 5 Mariano Galarza, 4 Ed Slater (c), 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 James Hanson, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Josh Hohneck, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Freddie Clarke, 20 Jake Polledri, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Tom Hudson, 23 Owen Williams
Northampton Saints: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 Nafi Tuitavake, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Tom Collins, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Heinrich Brüssow, 6 James Haskell, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Ben Franks, 2 James Fish, 1 Alex Waller (cc)
Replacements: 16 Dylan Hartley (cc), 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Ehren Painter, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Lewis Ludlam, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 James Grayson, 23 Ken Pisi
Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 14:00 BST (13:00 GMT)
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant Referees: Jack Makepeace, Greg Macdonald
TMO: Trevor Fisher
Harlequins v Sale Sharks
Chris Robshaw will captain Harlequins for the club’s opening Premiership fixture of the season against Sale Sharks at the Twickenham Stoop on Saturday.
The England international leads a strong team that includes eight full internationals in the starting line-up. Mike Brown is among them and he will be making his 299th appearance in Harlequins colours.
Head of rugby Paul Gustard has also selected four of the club’s summer signings in the match day squad – Nathan Earle, Paul Lasike, Matt Symons and Ben Tapuai will make their debuts.
For Sale, director of rugby Steve Diamond has named one debutant in the XV with James Phillips starting alongside Bryn Evans in the second-row.
Club captain Jono Ross will lead out the Sharks in a side that features both the Curry and James brothers, while Marland Yarde will also feature against his former club for the first time.
On the bench, Joe Jones is in line to make his first appearance for the club after signing from Perpignan.
Form: Harlequins defeat to London Irish in the opening weekend at Twickenham Stadium twelve months ago ended a run of six successive round 1 victories for Quins. Harlequins have won only one of their last ten games in Premiership Rugby, beating Bath 20-5 at The Stoop in March in a game that was delayed 48 hours due to bad weather. Sale Sharks have lost on the opening weekend for the past four seasons and were also defeated in each of the last three rounds last season. The Sharks won three of their last seven away games in Premiership Rugby in 2017/18, at Worcester, London Irish and Northampton. The last six encounters between the two clubs in Premiership Rugby have all been won by the home side on the day whilst Sharks only victory at The Stoop in the tournament since 2008 was in November 2014.
The teams:
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Nathan Earle, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Aaron Morris, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Renaldo Bothma, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 Chris Robshaw (c), 5 Dino Lamb, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Will Collier, 2 Elia Elia, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Max Crumpton, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Ben Glynn, 20 James Chisholm, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 James Lang, 23 Paul Lasike
Sale Sharks: 15 Byron McGuigan, 14 Denny Solomona, 13 Sam James, 12 Luke James, 11 Marland Yarde, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Will Cliff, 8 Jono Ross (c), 7 Ben Curry, 6 Tom Curry, 5 James Phillips, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Ross Harrison
Replacements: 16 Cameron Neild, 17 Alexandru Tarus, 18 Joe Jones, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Gus Warr, 22 Mark Jennings, 23 Paolo Odogwu
Venue: Twickenham Stoop
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant Referees: Simon McConnell, Roy Maybank
TMO: David Grashoff
Worcester Warriors v Wasps
Worcester Warriors’ flyer Bryce Heem has returned from injury ahead of Saturday’s Premiership opener against Wasps at Sixways.
The Kiwi winger is set for his 50th club appearance while three summer signings will make debuts in Alan Solomons’ starting XV.
Springbok Francois Venter and Scotland fly-half Duncan Weir start while prop Callum Black is set for his second debut, after returning to the club for a second spell this summer.
Hooker Niall Annett is handed his first Premiership appearance since November 2016, having made his comeback from a series of injuries in last weekend’s pre-season win over Birmingham Moseley.
Nick Schonert joins Annett and Black in the front-row while Anton Bresler and Darren Barry get the nod in the second-row. Alafoti Faosiliva, Sam Lewis and skipper GJ van Velze occupy the back-row.
Full-back Chris Pennell prepares for his 202nd game in the blue and gold next to Heem and Josh Adams is in the back three, with the latter making his 49th club appearance – which has included a whopping 30 tries so far.
Venter partners Ryan Mills in the centres while Weir is joined by Francois Hougaard in the half-back combination.
The replacements see new signings Cornell du Preez and Ashley Beck in line for their debuts, while academy lock Andrew Kitchener is included.
Meanwhile, director of rugby Dai Young has handed competitive Wasps debuts to two new signings when his club gets its 2018/19 Premiership campaign underway against Worcester.
Fly half Billy Searle and flanker Joe Atkinson are both named in the starting 15 to take on the Warriors.
Will Stuart is in line to make his first Premiership start, having come off the bench in two Premiership games last season. Stuart packs down in the front-row alongside Ben Harris and Tom Cruse.
The side is captained by Joe Launchbury, who is partnered in the second-row by Will Rowlands.
Nizaam Carr joins Nathan Hughes and Atkinson in the back-row for his first competitive Wasps appearance since returning to the club.
Behind the scrum, Searle forms the half-back partnership with Dan Robson, with international centre pairing Juan De Jongh and Elliot Daly outside him.
Christian Wade and Josh Bassett combine with Rob Miller in an electric back three.
The number of competitive debutants could increase to five should Georgian international prop Zurabi Zhvania, former Northampton Saints prop Kieran Brookes or former Harlequins second-row Charlie Matthews make their bows from the replacements.
Joining them on an impactful bench are Tommy Taylor, Ashley Johnson, Joe Simpson, Gaby Lovobalavu and Marcus Watson.
Form: Worcester Warriors have only recorded a round 1 victory in Premiership Rugby twice before, both at Sixways, against Sale in 2011 and Northampton in 2015. The Warriors last five games of the 2017/18 campaign were all won by the home side on the day whilst Worcester’s only home defeat in Premiership Rugby since early January was to Leicester on 4 March. Between 2012 and 2015 Wasps began their new Premiership Rugby season with a defeat, a run which ended with round 1 victories at the Ricoh Arena against Exeter in 2016 and Sale in 2017. Wasps finished off last season with defeat in the semi-final at Saracens but rounded off the regular season with three straight victories. The Warriors most recent victory over Wasps came at Sixways in Premiership Rugby in March 2013. Wasps have actually won at the venue on six of their last seven visits in the competition.
The teams:
Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 GJ van Velze (c), 7 Sam Lewis, 6 Alafoti Faosiliva, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Callum Black
Replacements: 16 Joe Taufete’e, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 Andrew Kitchener, 20 Cornell du Preez, 21 Jonny Arr, 22 Jono Lance, 23 Ashley Beck
Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Joe Atkinson, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Will Rowlands, 4 Joe Launchbury (c), 3 Will Stuart, 2 Tom Cruse, 1 Ben Harris
Replacements: 16 Tommy Taylor, 17 Zurabi Zhvania, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Charlie Matthews, 20 Ashley Johnson, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Gaby Lovobalavu, 23 Marcus Watson
Venue: Sixways
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant Referees: Peter Allan, Philip Watters
TMO: Stuart Terheege
Exeter Chiefs v Leicester Tigers
Although Exeter Chiefs will be missing the likes of Alex Cuthbert, Jack Nowell and Mitch Lees, all of whom have undergone surgery, a powerful array of talent will take to the field tomorrow for the hosts against Leicester Tigers at Sandy Park.
Club captain Jack Yeandle heads up a beefy pack that includes international stars such as Alec Hepburn, Tomas Francis, Don Armand, Sam Simmonds and Matt Kvesic, the latter of whom has really impressed during pre-season.
Behind, Nic White and Gareth Steenson provide an experienced half-back axis, while Ian Whitten is joined in the centre by fit-again Ollie Devoto. The back three is made up of Olly Woodburn, Santiago Cordero and Phil Dollman.
On the bench, there is also plenty of experienced cover in the shape of front-row trio Greg Holmes, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Harry Williams, while there is a first ever inclusion in a Premiership squad for Sean Lonsdale. Playmakers Joe Simmonds and Henry Slade are also waiting in the wings should they be needed by Baxter.
Meanwhile, Leicester hand debuts to five new arrivals. Will Spencer and David Denton start in the forward pack, while props David Feao and Gaston Cortes, and centre Kyle Eastmond are among the replacements for the trip to Sandy Park after summer moves to Tigers.
Australian duo Matt Toomua and Tatafu Polota-Nau return from international duty to claim places in the match-day squad. Toomua joins Manu Tuilagi in the Tigers’ midfield while Polota-Nau is named on the bench.
Mike Fitzgerald makes his 50th starting appearance in Premiership rugby and Telusa Veainu makes his 50th top-flight appearance for the club.
Head coach Matt O’Connor also gives a call-up to England U20s wing Jordan Olowofela for the first game of the new season.
Form: Exeter Chiefs only victory in round 1 in the last five seasons was 52-0 at London Welsh in 2014, however this is the first time that The Chiefs have begun the season with a home fixture at Sandy Park since 2012. Exeter’s defeat in last season’s Premiership final ended a run of ten successive victories in first team fixtures. The Chiefs have lost only once at Sandy Park in Premiership Rugby since October 2016: 5-6 to Worcester in round 14 last season. Leicester Tigers opening weekend defeat at home to Bath twelve months ago ended a run of five successive round 1 victories. Tigers lost only two of their last eight Premiership Rugby encounters last season, both at home, to Northampton and Newcastle. Leicester have won their last four away games but have not won five in succession on their travels in the tournament since 2012. The Chiefs have won four of their last six contests with Tigers in Premiership Rugby, whilst Leicester’s most recent triumph at Sandy Park was in 2014.
The teams:
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Nic White, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Don Armand, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Ollie Atkins, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Greg Holmes, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Toby Salmon, 20 Sean Lonsdale, 21 Stu Townsend, 22 Joe Simmonds, 23 Henry Slade
Leicester Tigers: 15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Brendon O’Connor, 6 David Denton, 5 Will Spencer, 4 Mike Fitzgerald, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 1 Greg Bateman
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 David Feao, 18 Gaston Cortes, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Mike Williams, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Kyle Eastmond, 23 Jordan Olowofela
Venue: Sandy Park
Kick-off: 16:30 BST (15:30 GMT)
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant Referees: Paul Dix, Anthony Woodthorpe
TMO: David Rose
Sunday
Newcastle Falcons v Saracens
Flying winger Adam Radwan makes his first Premiership start at Kingston Park on Sunday when Newcastle Falcons kick-off the new season at home to champions Saracens.
The 20-year-old Teessider’s sensational pre-season form has been recognised with a starting spot in the league after scoring in all three of his summer friendlies.
He forms part of a side which sees a competitive debut for prop Logovi’i Mulipola, the vastly-experienced Samoan having joined from Leicester Tigers, as well as a second Falcons ‘debut’ for hooker George McGuigan as he begins his second spell with the club.
Meanwhile, David Strettle will make his second Saracens debut against Newcastle Falcons in the opening round of the Premiership campaign.
The veteran winger, whose last game for Sarries came in the 2014/15 final win over Bath, scored twice in pre-season and lines up on the right flank. Fellow new recruit Alex Lewington will make his first appearance for the Men in Black off the bench.
Strettle is one of five changes from the Wolfpack’s XV which started at Twickenham in May.
Australia international Will Skelton’s impressive pre-season has earned him a call-up in the boiler while Mike Rhodes and Ben Earl partner Jackson Wray in the back-row.
One other alteration in the backs sees England scrum-half Ben Spencer get the nod at nine ahead of Richard Wigglesworth.
Form: Newcastle Falcons have begun their Premiership Rugby campaign with an opening weekend victory for the past two seasons. The Falcons lost out at Exeter in the semi-final last season and were also defeated by Wasps on their most recent game at Kingston Park to end a run of nine successive home victories in all competitions. Premiership Rugby champions, Saracens, have won their opening fixture of the new campaign for the past six seasons and finished off last year with seven straight Premiership Rugby victories, since their 12-24 reversal to Exeter at Sandy park on 4 March. Saracens have won their last nineteen encounters with Falcons in all tournaments since Newcastle’s 13-9 victory at Kingtson Park in Premiership Rugby in February 2009.
The teams:
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Vereniki Goneva, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Adam Radwan, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Callum Chick, 7 Will Welch (c), 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Will Witty, 4 Calum Green, 3 Logovi’i Mulipola, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Sami Mavinga
Replacements: 16 Santiago Socino, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Jack Payne, 19 Tevita Cavubati, 20 Gary Graham, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Joel Hodgson, 23 Alex Tait
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 David Strettle, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Mike Rhodes, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Sione Vailanu, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 Alex Lewington
Venue: Kingston Park
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant Referees: Tim Wigglesworth, John Meredith
TMO: Sean Davey