Premiership teams: England stars return after missing New Zealand tour as Marcus Smith benched by Harlequins
England fly-halves George Ford and Marcus Smith for Sale Sharks and Harlequins respectively.
The 2024/25 Premiership campaign begins this weekend with a full round of fixtures, including a repeat of last year’s final as Bath face Northampton Saints.
England duo Ollie Chessum and George Ford are back in action after missing the mid-year games against Japan and the All Blacks, while Marcus Smith – alongside Danny Care – are interestingly on the bench for Harlequins.
Check out the team news ahead of the Premiership action.
Friday
Bath v Northampton Saints
The teams:
Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Will Butt, 11 Will Muir, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer (c), 8 Alfie Barbeary, 7 Miles Reid, 6 Ted Hill, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Jacques du Plessis, 20 Guy Pepper, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Jaco Coetzee
Northampton: 15 George Furbank (c), 14 James Ramm, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Tom James, 8 Sam Graham, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Josh Kemeny, 5 Chunya Munga, 4 Angus Scott-Young, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Tom West, 18 Luke Green, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Juarno Augustus, 21 Archie McParland, 22 Toby Thame, 23 Tommy Freeman
Venue: The Rec
Kick-off: 19:45 BST (18:45 GMT)
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Dan Jones, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Tom Foley
Newcastle Falcons v Bristol Bears
The teams:
Newcastle: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Connor Doherty, 12 Sammy Arnold, 11 Ben Stevenson, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart, 8 Callum Chick (c), 7 Tom Gordon, 6 Philip van der Walt, 5 Kiran McDonald, 4 John Hawkins, 3 Richard Palframan, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Adam Brocklebank
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Luan de Bruin, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Freddie Lockwood, 20 Adam Scott, 21 Joe Davis, 22 Louis Brown, 23 Ben Redshaw
Bristol: 15 Max Malins, 14 Siva Naulago, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 James Williams, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Fitz Harding (c), 7 Jake Heenan, 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Joe Batley, 4 James Dun, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Gabriel Oghre, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 George Kloska, 19 Josh Caulfield, 20 Ben Grondona, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Joe Jenkins, 23 Rich Lane
Venue: Kingston Park
Kick-off: 19:45 BST (18:45 GMT)
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales, John Meredith
TMO: Dean Richards
Saturday
Exeter Chiefs v Leicester Tigers
The teams:
Exeter: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Ben Hammersley, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Niall Armstrong, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Ross Vintcent, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Richard Capstick, 4 Rusi Tuima, 3 Ehren Painter, 2 Dan Frost, 1 Scott Sio (c)
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Will Goodrick-Clarke, 18 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 19 Jack Dunne, 20 Christ Tshiunza, 21 Tom Cairns, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Paul Brown-Bampoe
Leicester: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Josh Bassett, 13 Izaia Perese, 12 Solomone Kata, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Jamie Shillcock, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Kyle Hatherell, 7 Olly Cracknell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Ollie Chessum (c), 4 Harry Wells, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Charlie Clare, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Finn Theobald-Thomas, 17 James Cronin, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Côme Joussain, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Ben Volavola, 23 Dan Kelly
Venue: Sandy Park
Kick-off: 15:05 BST (14:05 GMT)
Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant referees: George Selwood, Jonathan Healy
TMO: David Rose
Gloucester v Saracens
The teams:
Gloucester: 15 George Barton, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Max Llewellyn, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Ruan Ackermann, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Thomas, 3 Afo Fasogbon, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Seb Blake, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Kirill Gotovtsev, 19 Freddie Clarke, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Caolan Englefield, 22 Charlie Atkinson, 23 Seb Atkinson
Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Tobias Elliott, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Toby Knight, 6 Andy Onyeama-Christie, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Theo Dan, 1 Rhys Carre
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Sam Cream, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Harry Wilson, 20 Nick Isiekwe, 21 Ben Earl, 22 Charlie Bracken, 23 Alex Goode
Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 17:30 BST (16:30 GMT)
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Andrew Jackson, Peter Allan
TMO: Rowan Kitt
Sunday
Sale Sharks v Harlequins
The teams:
Sale: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Waisea Nayacalevu, 12 Rob du Preez, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Ben Curry (c), 6 Tom Curry, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Ernst van Rhyn, 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Ethan Caine, 17 Tumy Onasanya, 18 James Harper, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Ben Bamber, 21 Sam Dugdale, 22 Nye Thomas, 23 Will Addison
Harlequins: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Nick David, 13 Luke Northmore, 12 Lennox Anyanwu, 11 Oscar Beard, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Will Porter, 8 Alex Dombrandt (c), 7 Will Evans, 6 Jack Kenningham, 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Irne Herbst, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Fin Baxter
Replacements: 16 Nathan Jibulu, 17 Jordan Els, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Dino Lamb, 21 Danny Care, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Cassius Cleaves
Venue: Salford Community Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Adam Leal
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace, Greg Macdonald
TMO: Andrew Jackson