Premiership: Finn Russell and Marcus Smith face off as big guns return for Leicester Tigers

The teams have been named for this weekend’s Premiership games, including the highly anticipated clash between second-placed Bath and Harlequins, who are third on the table, at the Recreation Ground on Saturday.

Check out the team news for all of the weekend’s games, here.

Friday

Sale Sharks v Saracens

Sale: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Rob du Preez, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Arron Reed, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Ben Curry (c), 6 Ernst van Rhyn, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Ross Harrison
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Tumy Onasanya, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Nye Thomas, 22 Sam James, 23 Sam Bedlow

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Lucio Cinti, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Olly Hartley, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Andy Christie, 6 Juan-Martin Gonzalez, 5 Theo McFarland, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Alec Clarey, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Tom West, 18 Logovi’i Mulipola, 19 Hugh Tizard, 20 Toby Knight, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Tom Parton, 23 Alex Lewington

Venue: AJ Bell Stadium
Kick-off: 19:45
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant Referees: Hamish Grant, John Meredith
TMO: Andrew Jackson

Newcastle Falcons v Bristol Bears

Newcastle: 15 Tom Penny, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Oliver Spencer, 12 Jordan Holgate, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Louie Johnson, 9 James Elliott, 8 Callum Chick (c), 7 Guy Pepper, 6 Sam Cross, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 John Hawkins, 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Phil Brantingham
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Kiran McDonald, 20 Pedro Rubiolo, 21 Hugh O’Sullivan, 22 Rory Jennings, 23 George Wacokecoke

Bristol: 15 Max Malins, 14 Gabriel Ibitoye, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 11 Rich Lane, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Fitz Harding (c), 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Joe Batley, 4 James Dun, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Jake Woolmore
Replacements: 16 Gabriel Oghre, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 George Kloska 19 Josh Caulfield, 20 Dan Thomas, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 James Williams, 23 Noah Heward

Venue: Kingston Park
Kick-off: 19:35
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant Referees: Jonathan Cook, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Rowan Kitt

Saturday

Exeter Chiefs v Leicester Tigers

Exeter: 15 Tommy Wyatt, 14 Rory O’Loughlin, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Ben Hammersley, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Tom Cairns, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Lewis Pearson, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 3 Ehren Painter, 2 Jack Yeandle, 1 Scott Si
Replacements: 16 Dan Frost, 17 Nika Abuladze, 18 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 19 Rusi Tuima, 20 Ross Vintcent, 21 Stu Townsend, 22 Joe Hawkins, 23 Zack Wimbush

Leicester: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Dan Kelly, 12 Solomone Kata, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Emeka Ilione, 6 Ollie Chessum, 5 Harry Wells, 4 George Martin, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Julián Montoya (c), 1 James Whitcombe
Replacements: 16 Finn Theobold-Thomas, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Olly Cracknell, 20 Kyle Hatherell, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Jamie Shillcock, 23 Mike Brown

Venue: Sandy Park
Kick-off: 15:00
Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant Referees: George Selwood, Jonathan Healy
TMO: David Rose

Gloucester v Northampton Saints

Gloucester: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Max Llewellyn, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Ruan Ackerman, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Santi Socino, 1 Harry Elrington
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Jamal Ford-Robinson. 18 Kirill Gotovtsev, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Seb Atkinson, 23 Lloyd Evans

Northampton: 15 George Furbank (c), 14 Tom Litchfield, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Tommy Freeman, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Sam Graham, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Temo Mayanavanua, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Curtis Langdon,1 Ethan Waller
Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Chunya Munga, 20 Juarno Augustus, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Charlie Savala, 23 Jake Garside

Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 15:00
Referee: Hamish Smales
Assistant Referees: Harry Walbaum, Neil Chivers
TMO: Dean Richards

Bath v Harlequins

Bath: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Will Muir, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Alfie Barbeary, 7 Miles Reid, 6 GJ van Velze, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Elliott Stooke, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Jaco Coetzee, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Cameron Redpath

Harlequins: 15 Tyrone Green, 14 Nick David, 13 Will Joseph, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Louis Lynagh, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Alex Dombrandt (c), 7 James Chisholm, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Will Collier, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Irne Herbst, 20 George Hammond, 21 Will Evans, 22 Will Porter, 23 Oscar Beard

Venue: The Rec
Kick-off: 15:05
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant Referees: Andrew Jackson, Paul Dix
TMO: Stuart Terheege

READ MORE: Five storylines to watch in the Premiership, including the battle at the top and Six Nations spots