Premiership teams: Wales omission hits 200 games for Saracens while Bath big guns return after missing Champions Cup loss

Adam Kyriacou 20 Dec 2024 12:34 PM

Nick Tompkins will make his 200th appearance for Saracens.

Round Eight of the Premiership season takes place this weekend in the final matches before Christmas, with Leicester Tigers v Bristol Bears one of the standout games.

AJ MacGinty is back for the Bears in that clash and will face off with Handre Pollard in the battle at fly-half while Ben Youngs starts for the first time this season.

Recent Wales omission Nick Tompkins will make his 200th run-out for Saracens on Sunday when they face off against Northampton Saints at the StoneX Stadium.

Elsewhere, Ben Spencer is among the returnees for Bath as they look to bounce back from their Champions Cup defeat to Benetton as they face Newcastle Falcons.

Check on all the Premiership team news, here.

Friday

Gloucester v Harlequins

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

Harlequins: 15 Tyrone Green, 14 Rodrigo Isgro, 13 Oscar Beard, 12 Lennox Anyanwu, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Will Porter, 8 Alex Dombrandt (c), 7 Will Evans, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 5 George Hammond, 4 Dino Lamb, 3 Simon Kerrod, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Fin Baxter
Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Irne Herbst, 20 James Chisholm, 21 Danny Care, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Nick David

Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant Referees: Luke Pearce, Andrew Jackson
TMO: Stuart Terheege

Saturday

Leicester Tigers v Bristol Bears

Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Josh Bassett, 13 Will Wand, 12 Solomone Kata, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Olly Cracknell, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 George Martin, 4 Cameron Henderson, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Julián Montoya (c), 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 James Whitcombe, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Jed Holloway, 20 Emeka Ilione, 21 Jack van Poortvliet, 22 Jamie Shillcock, 23 Joseph Woodward

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

Venue: Mattioli Woods Welford Road
Kick-off: 15:05 GMT
Referee: Hamish Smales
Assistant Referees: Hamish Grant, Simon Harding
TMO: David Rose

Wales star returns for Gloucester while club stalwart hits 100 games for Harlequins

Sale Sharks v Exeter Chiefs

Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Rob du Preez, 12 Luke James, 11 Arron Reed, 10 George Ford, 9 Raffi Quirke, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Ben Curry (c), 6 JL du Preez, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Ernst van Rhyn, 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Tadgh McElroy, 17 Si McIntyre, 18 WillGriff John, 19 Ben Bamber, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Gus Warr, 22 Waisea Nayacalevu, 23 Tom O’Flaherty

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Tommy Wyatt, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Ben Hammersley, 12 Tamati Tua, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Henry Slade, 9 Stu Townsend, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Ross Vintcent, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Franco Molina, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 3 Marcus Street, 2 Dan Frost, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Jimmy Roots, 19 Richard Capstick, 20 Jacques Vermeulen, 21 Will Becconsall, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Josh Hodge

Venue: Salford Community Stadium
Kick-off: 17:30 GMT
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant Referees: Jack Makepeace, John Meredith
TMO: Peter Allan

Newcastle Falcons v Bath

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Ben Redshaw, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Cameron Hutchison, 11 Ben Stevenson, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart, 8 Callum Chick (c), 7 Tom Gordon, 6 Freddie Lockwood, 5 Kiran McDonald, 4 Sebastian de Chaves, 3 Richard Palframan, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Murray McCallum
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Callum Hancock, 18 Micky Rewcastle, 19 Philip van der Walt, 20 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 21 Hugh O’Sullivan, 22 Kieran Wilkinson, 23 Oli Spencer

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

Venue: Kingston Park
Kick-off: 17:30
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant Referees: Karl Dickson, Wayne Falla
TMO: Dean Richards

Sunday

Saracens v Northampton Saints

Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Tobias Elliott, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Theo McFarland, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Theo Dan, 1 Rhys Carre
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Phil Brantingham, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Harry Wilson, 20 Toby Knight, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Brandon Jackson

Northampton Saints: 15 George Hendy, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Tom Litchfield, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 James Ramm, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Alex Coles (c), 5 Chunya Munga, 4 Tom Lockett, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun
Replacements: 16 Nathan Langdon, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Temo Mayanavanua, 20 Henry Pollock, 21 Archie McParland, 22 Fraser Dingwall, 23 Ollie Sleightholme

Venue: StoneX Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Adam Leal
Assistant Referees: Sara Cox, Jonathan Healy
TMO: Dan Jones