Premiership Preview: Friday
Two games take place in the Premiership on Friday as Northampton welcome Newcastle to Franklin's Gardens while Worcester host Sale at Sixways.
Northampton Saints v Newcastle Falcons
Saints director of rugby Jim Mallinder has made three changes to his starting line-up which lost to Sale Sharks last weekend.
England duo Courtney Lawes and Dylan Hartley return, the latter to captain the side, while Rob Horne is at outside centre.
The replacements are bolstered by Api Ratuniyarawa, Piers Francis and Ahsee Tuala, all of whom have been on international duty.
Meanwhile, Newcastle Falcons boss Dean Richards has made eight alterations to his starting line-up with Vereniki Goneva among the stars returning to the side.
The winger scored for Fiji in last weekend’s victory over Canada while scrum-half Sonatane Takulua also returns from the international fray after kicking Tonga to victory in Romania.
He partners Toby Flood in the half-backs, Josh Matavesi returning to the centres after scoring a try in Monday’s 62-12 A-League thumping of Wasps.
Scotland’s Chris Harris starts at outside centre, the pack seeing three changes as hooker Kyle Cooper, lock Calum Green and flanker Gary Graham all come in for a Falcons side who were 22-16 winners on their last visit to Franklin’s Gardens.
Form: Northampton Saints have lost their last four Premiership Rugby fixtures but have not lost five in succession in the competition since 2011. The Saints' solitary defeat at Franklin’s Gardens since March in Premiership Rugby was against Wasps on 28 October in their most recent home game in the tournament. Newcastle Falcons have also lost their last four Premiership Rugby matches since beating London Irish 29-17 at Kingston Park on 29 September. Newcastle’s record away from home in all competitions this season is won four, lost two. Newcastle have won their last three matches against Northampton in Premiership Rugby and have never won four in succession against the Saints in the tournament.
The teams:
Northampton Saints: 15 Harry Mallinder, 14 Juan Pablo Estelles, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Tom Stephenson, 11 Ben Foden, 10 James Grayson, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Mitch Eadie, 21 Nic Groom, 22 Piers Francis, 23 Ahsee Tuala
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Vereniki Goneva, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Mark Wilson, 7 Gary Graham, 6 Will Welch (c), 5 Sean Robinson, 4 Calum Green, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 Kyle Cooper, 1 Rob Vickers
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Sami Mavinga, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Will Witty, 20 Nili Latu, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Joel Hodgson, 23 Alex Tait
Date: Friday, December 1
Venue: Franklin's Gardens
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Christophe Ridley, Simon McConnell
TMO: David Grashoff
Worcester Warriors v Sale Sharks
Worcester have made just one change to their starting line-up after last weekend's 31-27 victory over Leicester at Welford Road.
Number eight David Denton replaces the injured GJ van Velze as Warriors go in search of a third straight win after victories over Northampton Saints and the Tigers in the past fortnight.
Scotland international Denton lines up in the back row next to Alafoti Faosiliva and Sam Lewis while skipper Donncha O’Callaghan gets set for his 50th start for the club next to the in-form Will Spencer.
Ethan Waller, Jack Singleton and Nick Schonert keep their places in the front row.
In the backs, Chris Pennell, Bryce Heem and Josh Adams are given the nod once again while Ryan Mills and Jackson Willison start in the centre. Francois Hougaard and Jono Lance complete the half-back combination.
Joe Taufete’e is in the matchday 23 after returning from international duty with USA while Pierce Phillips is also recalled to the side.
Meanwhile, Sale Sharks director of rugby Steve Diamond has named a strong matchday squad for this encounter.
Diamond has made three personnel changes to the matchday 23 with AJ MacGinty, Byron McGuigan and TJ Ioane all returning from international duty to replace James O'Connor, Marland Yarde and Marc Jones respectively.
Other notable changes to the line-up include James O'Connor who is set to make his first start at full-back for Sale and Rohan Janse van Rensburg who starts at inside centre ahead of Mark Jennings this weekend.
Form: Worcester Warriors have won their last two Premiership Rugby matches, at home to Northampton and away at Leicester, but have not won three in a row since March 2016. The Warriors' only two victories at Sixways this season were against Brive in the European Challenge Cup, and 30-15 over Northampton in Round 8 of Premiership Rugby. Sale Sharks' only loss in their last four first team encounters was 35-27 at Leicester in Round 8 of Premiership Rugby. The Sharks have not won away from home in Premiership Rugby since a trip to Bristol in October 2016. Sale have lost just once to Worcester since 2012: at Sixways 31-23 in Premiership Rugby in February 2016.
The teams:
Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Jono Lance, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 David Denton, 7 Sam Lewis, 6 Alafoti Faosiliva, 5 Will Spencer, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan (c), 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Ethan Waller
Replacements: 16 Joe Taufete’e, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Gareth Milasinovich, 19 Christian Scotland-Williamson, 20 Pierce Phillips, 21 Michael Dowsett, 22 Sam Olver, 23 Dean Hammond
Sale Sharks: 15 James O'Connor, 14 Denny Solomona, 13 Sam James, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Byron McGuigan, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Jono Ross (c), 5 Andrei Ostrikov, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Ross Harrison
Replacements: 16 Cameron Neild, 17 James Flynn, 18 Halani Aulika, 19 George Nott, 20 TJ Ioane, 21 Will Cliff 22 Mark Jennings, 23 Mike Haley
Date: Friday, December 1
Venue: Sixways
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Paul Burton, Jonathan Healy
TMO: Graham Hughes