Premiership teams: Saracens welcome back Six Nations stars en-masse as Marcus Smith misses London derby

Louis Chapman Coombe
A two layered image of Maro Itoje and Marcus Smith

Maro Itoje is one of several England players back in the mix for Saracens

After nearly two months away, the Premiership is back this weekend – and what a way to restart it too with ‘Derby Weekend – the rematch’.

The action gets underway on Friday night with two big games as Newcastle Falcons and Sale Sharks battle it out for Northern bragging rights while defending champions Northampton Saints face Leicester Tigers in the latest chapter of the East Midland’s derby.

Saturday’s action sees Saracens and Harlequins square off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and West Country rivals Bristol Bears and Exeter Chiefs go head-to-head at Ashton Gate.

Rounding off the weekend’s action, Bath welcome bitter rivals Gloucester to the Rec.

Check out all the Premiership team news, here.

Friday 21st March

Newcastle Falcons v Sale Sharks

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Oli Spencer, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Max Clark, 11 Alex Hearle, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart, 8 Callum Chick (c), 7 Cameron Neild, 6 Freddie Lockwood, 5 Kiran McDonald, 4 Philip van der Walt, 3 Murray McCallum, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Adam Brocklebank
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Micky Rewcastle, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Sebastian de Chaves, 20 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 21 Joe Davis, 22 Kieran Wilkinson, 23 Louis Brown

Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Rekeiti Ma’asi White, 12 Rob du Preez, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford 9 Gus Warr, 8 JL du Preez, 7 Ben Curry (c), 6 Ernst van Rhyn, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Ben Bamber, 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Tadgh McElroy, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Harry Thompson, 17 Si McIntyre, 18 WillGriff John, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Nye Thomas, 22 Sam Bedlow, 23 Arron Reed

Northampton Saints v Leicester Tigers

Northampton Saints: 15 George Hendy, 14 James Ramm, 13 Fraser Dingwall (c), 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Tom Seabrook, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Tom James, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Josh Kemeny, 5 Tom Lockett, 4 Temo Mayanavanua, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Luke Green, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Chunya Munga, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Jonny Weimann, 23 Burger Odendaal

Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Solomone Kata, 12 Joseph Woodward, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Olly Cracknell, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Harry Wells, 4 Cameron Henderson, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 James Whitcombe, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Côme Joussain, 20 Emeka Ilione, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Ben Volavola, 23 Izaia Perese

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Saturday 22nd March

Saracens v Harlequins

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 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Theo McFarland, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Jamie George, 1 Eroni Mawi
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Phil Brantingham, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Andy Onyeama-Christie, 21 Nathan Michelow, 22 Gareth Simpson, 23 Alex Goode

Harlequins: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Rodrigo Isgro, 13 Oscar Beard, 12 Ben Waghorn, 11 Nick David, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Will Porter, 8 Alex Dombrandt (c), 7 Will Evans, 6 Jack Kenningham, 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Jordan Els, 18 Will Hobson, 19 Irne Herbst, 20 George Hammond, 21 Jake Murray, 22 Jamie Benson, 23 Tyrone Green

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Bristol Bears v Exeter Chiefs

Bristol Bears: 15 Rich Lane, 14 Jack Bates, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 James Williams, 11 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Viliame Mata,  7 Fitz Harding (c), 6 Santiago Grondona, 5 Joe Owen, 4 James Dun, 3 George Kloska, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 1. Jake Woolmore
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Ellis Genge, 18. Max Lahiff, 19 Josh Caulfield, 20 Steven Luatua, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Benjamin Elizalde, 23 Siva Naulago.

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Dan John, 14 Paul Brown-Bampoe, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Will Rigg, 11 Josh Hodge, 10 Ben Coen, 9 Tom Cairns, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Richard Capstick, 6 Martin Moloney, 5 Christ Tshiunza, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 3 Jimmy Roots, 2 Max Norey 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 19 Lewis Pearson, 20 Kane James, 21 Niall Armstrong, 22 Harvey Skinner, 23 Ben Hammersley

Sunday 23rd March

Bath v Gloucester

Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Ruaridh McConnochie, 13 Max Ojomoh, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Will Muir, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer (c), 8 Alfie Barbeary, 7 Guy Pepper, 6 Josh Bayliss, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Tom Dunn 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Ted Hill, 20 Sam Underhill, 21, Louis Schreuder, 22 Will Butt, 23 Jaco Coetzee

Gloucester: 15 George Barton, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Max Llewellyn, 10 Santi Carreras, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Jack Clement, 5 Freddie Thomas, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Afolabi Fasogbon, 2 Seb Blake, 1 Ciaran Knight
Replacements: 16 Jack Singleton, 17 Val Rapava-Ruskin, 18 Kirill Gotovtsev, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Harry Taylor, 21 Caolan Englefield, 22 Charlie Atkinson, 23 Josh Hathaway

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Bath