PREM Rugby round one: Predictions, teams, kick-off times, how to watch and referee appointments
Alfie Barbeary and Courtney Lawes start for Saracens and Sale Sharks respectively.
After a long off-season and a glimpse of action in the PREM Rugby Cup, the 2026/27 PREM Rugby season gets underway this weekend with five blockbuster games across the weekend.
The action kicks off with a double-header on Friday night, as defending champions Northampton Saints take on Newcastle Red Bulls and Harlequins face Bath. Saturday then sees two games take place, in the form of Exeter Chiefs v Gloucester and Sale Sharks v Bristol Bears, before things come to a close in the East Midlands as Leicester Tigers welcome Saracens to Mattioli Woods Welford Road.
Check on all the PREM team news, our predictions, how to watch and more below.
Friday
Northampton Saints v Newcastle Red Bulls
Prediction: Northampton Saints by 15
Northampton Saints: 15 James Pater, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Fraser Dingwall (c), 11 George Hendy, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Archie McParland, 8 Callum Chick, 7 Henry Pollock, 6 Josh Kemeny, 5 Ed Prowse, 4 Alex Coles, 3 Cleopas Kundiona, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 Tom Lockett, 20 Josh Taylor, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Ollie Sleightholme
Newcastle Red Bulls: 15 Harrison Obatoyinbo, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Chris Harris, 11 Werner Kok, 10 Brett Connon, 9 James Elliott, 8 Sam Graham, 7 Tom Christie (c), 6 Max Hicks, 5 Cam Jordan, 4 Oscar Usher, 3 Elliot Millar Mills, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Pouri Rakete-Stones
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Tom West, 18 James Harper, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 21 Simón Benítez Cruz, 22 Zack Henry, 23 Hoskins Sotutu
Venue: DPD Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens
Kick-off: 19:45 BST
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant referees: George Selwood and Veryan Boscawen
TMO: Ian Tempest
How to watch: TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports UHD, HBO Max
Harlequins v Bath
Prediction: Bath by 12
Harlequins: 15 Tyrone Green, 14 Cameron Anderson, 13 Oscar Beard, 12 Bryn Bradley, 11 Cadan Murley (c), 10 Connor Slevin, 9 Will Porter, 8 Chandler Cunningham-South, 7 Will Evans, 6 Jack Kenningham, 5 Harry Browne, 4 James Dun, 3 Pedro Delgado, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Will Hobson
Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Harry Johnson-Holmes, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Guido Petti Pagadizábal, 21 Lucas Friday, 22 Josh Bellamy, 23 Rodrigo Isgró
Bath: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Tom de Glanville, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Tom Carr-Smith, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Josh Bayliss, 5 Charlie Ewels (c), 4 Ted Hill, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Dan Frost, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Kepu Tuipulotu, 17 Scott Kirk, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Ewan Richards, 20 Guy Pepper, 21 Bernard van der Linde, 22 Cameron Redpath, 23 Miles Reid
Venue: Twickenham Stoop
Kick-off: 19:45 BST
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant referees: Joe James and Simon Harding
TMO: David Rose
How to watch: HBO Max
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Saturday
Exeter Chiefs v Gloucester
Prediction: Exeter by 7
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Ben Hammersley, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Will Butt, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Kane James, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Harry Wilson, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 3 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 2 Jack Yeandle, 1 Ethan Burger
Replacements: 16 Louie Gulley, 17 Will Goodrick-Clarke, 18 Jimmy Roots, 19 Oscar Beckerleg, 20 Joe Bailey, 21 Jake Murray, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Zack Wimbush
Gloucester: 15 Ben Redshaw, 14 Will Joseph, 13 Phil Cokanasiga, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ben Loader, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Caolan Englefield, 8 Will Trenholm, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 Freddie Thomas, 5 Arthur Clark, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Afo Fasogbon, 2 Dewi Lake (c), 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Jack Clement, 20 Lewis Ludlow, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Junior Denny, 23 George Barton
Venue: Sandy Park
Kick-off: 15:05 BST
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Harry Walbaum and Jonathan Healy
TMO: Stuart Terheege
How to watch: TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports UHD, HBO Max
Sale Sharks v Bristol Bears
Prediction: Sale by 4
Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom O’Flaherty, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11 Arron Reed, 10 George Ford, 9 Xavier Roe, 8 Jacques Vermeulen, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Ben Bamber, 4 Ernst van Rhyn (c), 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Nathan Jibulu, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Christ Tshiunza, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Gus Warr, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Elia Cankaivata
Bristol Bears: 15 Tom Jordan, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 James Williams, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Fitz Harding (c), 7 Luka Ivanishvili, 6 Joe Owen, 5 Joe Batley, 4 Pedro Rubiolo, 3 George Kloska, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Tomas Gwilliam, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Jimmy Halliwell, 19 George Taylor, 20 Steven Luatua, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Max Pepper, 23 Benjamin Grondona
Venue: CorpAcq Stadium
Kick-off: 17:30 BST
Referee: Sara Cox
Assistant referees: Craig Maxwell-Keys and Jamie Leahy
TMO: Peter Allan
How to watch: TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports UHD, HBO Max
Sunday
Leicester Tigers v Saracens
Prediction: Leicester by 3
Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Solomone Kata, 12 Joseph Woodward, 11 Gabriel Hamer-Webb, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Jack van Poortvliet (c), 8 Olly Cracknell, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Cameron Henderson, 4 Finn Carnduff, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Samiuela Moli, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Corbin Thunder, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Will Hurd, 19 James Thompson, 20 Joaquin Moro, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Ollie Hassell-Collins
Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Tobias Elliott, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Olly Hartley, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Alfie Barbeary, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Nick Isiekwe, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Marcus Street, 2 Theo Dan, 1 Eroni Mawi
Replacements: 16 Eoghan Clarke, 17 Phil Brantingham, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Olamide Sodeke, 20 Nathan Michelow, 21 Ben Earl, 22 Charlie Bracken, 23 Max Malins
Venue: Mattioli Woods Welford Road
Kick-off: 15:00 BST
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce and John Meredith
TMO: Andrew Jackson
How to watch: TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports UHD, HBO Max