PREM Rugby round eight: Predictions, teams, kick-off times, how to watch and referee appointments
Exeter Chiefs duo Hnery Slade and Andrea Zambonin (right) and Bath prop Thomas du Toit (left) are all in action this weekend
The festive round is always a highlight of the PREM season, and this year promises to be yet another exciting weekend of action.
Things get underway on Boxing Day, as Sale Sharks welcome Harlequins to the CorpAcq Stadium, with both sides licking their wounds after heavy defeats last time out.
Saturday sees three games taking place, with Bristol Bears facing Newcastle Red Bulls, Gloucester taking on Saracens and Bath squaring off against Northampton Saints.
Rounding off the weekend, Exeter Chiefs go toe-to-toe with Leicester Tigers at Sandy Park.
Here’s all the PREM team news, predictions, match officials and how to watch the action.
Friday
Sale Sharks v Harlequins
Prediction: Sale Sharks by 15.
Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom O’Flaherty, 13 Rob du Preez, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Alex Wills, 10 George Ford, 9 Raffi Quirke, 8 Tom Curry, 7 Ernst van Rhyn (c), 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Ben Bamber, 3 James Harper, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Nathan Jibulu, 17 Si McIntyre, 18 WillGriff John, 19 Tom Burrow, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Gus Warr, 22 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 23 Gurshwin Wehr
Harlequins: 15 Nick David, 14 Rodrigo Isgró, 13 Oscar Beard, 12 Luke Northmore, 11 Cadan Murley (c), 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Will Porter, 8 Chandler Cunningham-South, 7 Tom Lawday, 6 Jack Kenningham, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Will Hobson
Replacements: 16 Jack Musk, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Pedro Delgado, 19 Jonny Green, 20 Alex Dombrandt, 21 Lucas Friday, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Bryn Bradley
Venue: CorpAcq Stadium
Kick-off: 17:30 GMT
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Christophe Ridley and Jamie Leahy
TMO: Hamish Smales
How to watch: TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports UHD, Discovery+
Venue: CorpAcq Stadium
Kick-off: 17:30 GMT
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Christophe Ridley and Jamie Leahy
TMO: Hamish Smales
How to watch: TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports UHD, Discovery+
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Saturday
Bristol Bears v Newcastle Red Bulls
Prediction: Bristol Bears by 30.
Bristol Bears: 15 Louis Rees-Zammit, 14 Noah Heward, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 James Williams, 11 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 10 Tom Jordan, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Fitz Harding (c), 6 Joe Owen, 5 Joe Batley, 4 George Taylor, 3 George Kloska, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Max Lahiff
Replacements: 16 Gabriel Oghre, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Jimmy Halliwell, 19 Pedro Rubiolo, 20 Luka Ivanishvili, 21 Sam Wolstenholme, 22 Sam Worsley, 23 Rich Lane
Newcastle Red Bulls: 15 Ethan Grayson, 14 Oli Spencer, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Sammy Arnold, 11 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz, 8 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 7 Tom Christie, 6 Tom Gordon, 5 Seb de Chaves, 4 Oscar Usher, 3 Murray McCallum, 2 George McGuigan (c), 1 Adam Brocklebank
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Connor Hancock, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Finn Baker, 20 Amanaki Mafi, 21 James Elliott, 22 Boeta Chamberlain, 23 Cameron Hutchison.
Venue: Ashton Gate
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: George Selwood
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce and John Meredith
TMO: Andrew Jackson
How to watch: Discovery+
Gloucester v Saracens
Prediction: Saracens by 15.
Gloucester: 15 Charlie Atkinson, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Will Butler, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Tomos Williams (c), 8 Jack Clement, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 James Venter, 5 Arthur Clark, 4 Freddie Thomas, 3 Afolabi Fasogbon, 2 Jack Innard, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin
Replacements: 16 George Knowles, 17 Ciaran Knight, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Harry Taylor, 21 Mikey Austin, 22 Will Knight, 23 Josh Hathaway
Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Rotimi Segun, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Max Malins, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ivan Van Zyl (c), 8 Tom Willis, 7 Andy Onyeama-Christie, 6 Theo McFarland, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Nick Isiekwe, 3 Marcus Street, 2 Theo Dan, 1 Rhys Carre
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Tietie Tuimauga, 19 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 20, Ben Earl, 21 Charlie Bracken, 22 Fergus Burke, 23 Olly Hartley
Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 15:05 GMT
Referee: Adam Leal
Assistant referees: Karl Dickson and Veryan Boscawen
TMO: Stuart Terheege
How to watch: TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports UHD, Discovery+
Bath v Northampton Saints
Prediction: Bath by 3.
Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Henry Arundell, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer (c), 8 Miles Reid, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Josh Bayliss, 5 Ross Molony, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Dan Frost, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Ted Hill, 20 Guy Pepper, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Santi Carreras, 23 Chris Harris
Northampton Saints: 15 George Hendy, 14 Edoardo Todaro, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 James Ramm, 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Archie McParland, 8 Henry Pollock, 7 Sam Graham, 6 Callum Chick (c), 5 Chunya Munga, 4 Ed Prowse, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Robbie Smith, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Oliver Scola, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Archie Benson, 20 Fyn Brown, 21 Tom James, 22 Henry Lumley, 23 Ollie Sleightholme
Venue: The Rec
Kick-off: 17:30 GMT
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales and Jonathan Healy
TMO: Dan Jones
How to watch: TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports UHD, Discovery+
Sunday
Exeter Chiefs v Leicester Tigers
Prediction: Exeter Chiefs by 5.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Olly Woodburn, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Will Rigg, 11 Campbell Ridl, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Ethan Roots, 6 Tom Hooper, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 3 Bachuki Tchumbadze, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Will Goodrick-Clarke, 18 Jimmy Roots, 19 Rusi Tuima, 20 Kane James, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Dan John
Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Izaia Perese, 12 Solomone Kata, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Tom Whiteley, 8 Olly Cracknell, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Joaquin Moro, 5 Ollie Chessum (c), 4 Cameron Henderson, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Finn Theobold-Thomas, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Will Hurd, 19 James Thompson, 20 Sam Williams, 21 Jack van Poortvliet, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Gabriel Hamer-Webb
Venue: Sandy Park
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant referees: Joe James and Simon Harding
TMO: Dean Richards
How to watch: TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports UHD, Discovery+
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