Chris Vui bolsters Bears, Tom Youngs hits 200 for Tigers

Colin Newboult

The Premiership continues on Friday as two matches take place, including the West Country derby between Bristol Bears and Bath.

Bristol Bears v Bath

Chris Vui returns to the Bristol starting line-up ahead of the hotly anticipated West Country derby against Bath at Ashton Gate.

The Samoa captain is one of six changes to the side that beat Exeter Chiefs in round six to go top of the Premiership.

Henry Purdy and Andy Uren come back into the side, while Ioan Lloyd is selected at fly-half. In the pack, John Afoa and Dan Thomas earn starts for this clash.

Max Malins, Harry Randall and Ben Earl are unavailable on international duty, while Kyle Sinckler is serving the first game of a two-match ban. Callum Sheedy is included among the replacements having been released from Wales camp on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Bath have made seven changes to the starting XV for the clash against their rivals.

The Blue, Black and White travel to Ashton Gate on Friday night as the Premiership returns with a bang.

The forward pack are altered for the match with Charlie Ewels, Will Stuart and Beno Obano missing as they begin their preparations for England’s Six Nations campaign.

Juan Schoeman and Christian Judge come into the front-row and sit either side of Tom Dunn, with Josh McNally takings over captaincy in Ewels’ absence and is partnered by Elliott Stooke in the second-row.

Josh Bayliss replaces Taulupe Faletau at openside, Miles Reid comes in for Sam Underhill, and Zach Mercer keeps his place at number eight.

Josh Matavesi returns to the starting line-up in midfield to partner Jonathan Joseph and the smiling Fijian comes in for Cameron Redpath, who has spent the week with Scotland following his first call-up in preparation for the Six Nations.

Gabriel Hamer-Webb is the only other change coming onto the wide channel with Ruaridh McConnochie.

Form: Bristol Bears’ solitary defeat in their last seven encounters was 38-51 at home to Clermont in Round One of the European Champions Cup. Bristol have lost only once at Ashton Gate in Premiership Rugby since December 2019: 22-25 to Exeter Chiefs in August. Bath’s most recent victory (excluding the walkover win over London Irish) was 33-17 at Worcester in the Premiership on December 5. Bath have not been victorious at the Rec in the competition since beating Gloucester there in Round 21 last season. Bristol’s only defeat in their last five fixtures against Bath was 19-26 in “The Clash” at Twickenham in April 2019. Bath’s only previous victory at Ashton Gate in Premiership Rugby was in March 2008.

The teams:

Bristol: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 Piers O’Conor, 11 Henry Purdy, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Steven Luatua (c), 5 Chris Vui, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 John Afoa, 2 Bryan Byrne, 1 Jake Woolmore
Replacements: 16 Will Capon, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Jake Armstrong, 19 Ed Holmes, 20 Jake Heenan, 21 Tom Kessell, 22 Callum Sheedy, 23 Alapati Leiua

Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Ruaridh McConnochie, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Gabriel Hamer-Webb, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Miles Reid, 6 Josh Bayliss, 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 Josh McNally (c), 3 Christian Judge, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Juan Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Mike Williams, 20 Taulupe Faletau, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Cameron Redpath, 23 Joe Cokanasiga

Venue: Ashton Gate
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Luke Pearce
TMO: Tom Foley

Leicester Tigers v Sale Sharks

Leicester Tigers head coach Steve Borthwick has named his team to take on Sale Sharks at Welford Road on Friday.

Club captain Tom Youngs will make his 200th appearance for Leicester in the home clash.

The Tigers academy graduate, who made his senior debut in 2006 as a centre, moved to the front-row in 2009 and was appointed captain of the club ahead of the 2016/17 season.

Youngs will start his milestone match at hooker alongside long-time Leicester team-mate and fellow international Dan Cole who is included at tighthead prop.

South African front-rower Luan de Bruin, who joined Tigers ahead of the current campaign, makes his first start for the club in just his second appearance.

Harry Wells and Calum Green are the locks for Friday with Hanro Liebenberg, Tommy Reffell and Jasper Wiese included in the back-row of the pack.

In his fourth appearance for the club, Premiership Rugby’s record appearance holder Richard Wigglesworth returns from suspension to start at scrum-half and is joined by Zack Henry at fly-half.

In the Leicester midfield, Matt Scott partners Matías Moroni, with Nemani Nadolo and Kobus van Wyk included as the wings.

Freddie Steward, who is the starting back-line’s most experienced Tigers player with 17 senior appearances, is at full-back.

Argentina international hooker Julián Montoya is in line for his club debut after being included among the replacements.

In a 6-2 split on the Tigers bench, Nephi Leatigaga, Joe Heyes, Tomás Lavanini, George Martin and Cyle Brink are the remaining forwards, with Jack Van Poortvliet and Johnny McPhillips the backs.

Meanwhile, Sam James will make his 150th Sale appearance as the Sharks travel to Welford Road on the hunt of a fourth successive league victory over Leicester Tigers, as Alex Sanderson takes charge of his first fixture since joining the club.

Bevan Rodd continues to impress at loosehead prop and makes his fifth consecutive start for Sale alongside Akker van der Merwe and WillGriff John in the front-row. Cobus Wiese heads to the east midlands with a little more at stake than the rest of the squad as he goes toe to toe with his older brother Jasper for the first time in their careers.

The South African lines up alongside fellow countryman JP du Preez in what has become a familiar second-row pairing for the Sharks so far this season.

Jono Ross captains the side from blindside flanker and joins Sharks’ academy graduates Sam Dugdale and Josh Beaumont in the back-row at openside and number eight respectively.

Faf de Klerk and AJ MacGinty start in their usual half-back roles after a string of impressive performances together in the Premiership so far this season.

Sam James returns to the centres after a stint at full-back and is joined in an all-English centre pairing by powerhouse Sam Hill.

James’ younger brother, Luke, makes his first start of 2021 at full-back in an experienced back three alongside Marland Yarde and Byron McGuigan, with the Scotland winger making his first start for the Sharks since picking up a hamstring injury in August last year.

Form: Leicester Tigers’ most recent defeat, excluding walkovers, was 13-35 at home to Exeter in Round Three of Premiership Rugby. That defeat is the Tigers’ only one at Welford Road in any tournament since October. Sale Sharks have won their last two Premiership encounters, at Gloucester and at home to Worcester. The Sharks have been defeated only once away from home in Premiership Rugby since August: 13-15 at Newcastle on November 27. Sale have won their last four fixtures against Leicester in all competitions, their best ever sequence against the Tigers. The Sharks beat Tigers at Welford Road in September and have never won back to back Premiership Rugby encounters at the venue.

The teams:

Leicester: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Zack Henry, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Calum Green, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 1 Luan de Bruin
Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Nephi Leatigaga, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Tomás Lavanini, 20 George Martin, 21 Cyle Brink, 22 Jack Van Poortvliet, 23 Johnny McPhillips

Sale: 15 Luke James, 14 Byron McGuigan, 13 Sam James, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Marland Yarde, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 Sam Dugdale, 6 Jono Ross (c), 5 JP du Preez, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 James Phillips, 20 Cameron Neild, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Robert du Preez, 23 Tom Roebuck

Venue: Welford Road
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Paul Dix, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Christophe Ridley