Scotland duo to start for Worcester against Bath

David Skippers
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Worcester Warriors Duncan Weir

Saturday’s three Premiership fixtures are Leicester Tigers v Exeter Chiefs, Wasps v Newcastle Falcons and Worcester Warriors v Bath, with London Irish and Gloucester facing Sale Sharks and Harlequins respectively in Sunday’s action.

Saturday

Leicester Tigers v Exeter Chiefs

Leicester Tigers head coach Steve Borthwick has named his team for Saturday’s Premiership Round Three fixture against Exeter Chiefs.

Nephi Leatigaga comes into the front-row to start alongside fellow internationals Tom Youngs and Dan Cole as the only change in the forward pack.

Harry Wells and Calum Green combine at lock, with Hanro Liebenberg, Cyle Brink and Jasper Wiese in the back-row.

Richard Wigglesworth, who made his 290th Premiership appearance last weekend, is at scrum-half, lining up alongside Zack Henry.

Guy Porter and Harry Simmons come into the backline, replacing Harry Potter and Kobus van Wyk, with Matt Scott and Jaco Taute resuming at centre and Freddie Steward at full-back.

Blake Enever comes into the matchday squad for the first time this season, with the Australian lock joining Charlie Clare, Ryan Bower, Joe Heyes, Tommy Reffell and Jordan Taufua as forward cover.

Ben White and Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, who was among the debutants in the opening home game of the season against Gloucester, provide the backs cover from the bench.

Meanwhile, team news for the Chiefs sees Rob Baxter name Will Witty into the starting line-up after Sam Skinner was recalled back to international duty with Scotland.

Witty is the sole change up front, while behind Stu Townsend gets his first start of the season at scrum-half. A shin injury to Olly Woodburn means Ian Whitten shunts to the wing with Tom Hendrickson coming into the centre alongside Ollie Devoto.

On the bench, James Kenny, Tom Price and Josh Hodge are all added to the side which saw off Bath last time out.

Form: Leicester Tigers’ only victory in the last four rounds of Premiership Rugby was 38-15 against Gloucester last time out at Welford Road. The Tigers have not won successive home games since February. Exeter Chiefs have begun the defence of their Premiership Rugby crown with maximum points after two rounds. The Chiefs have not been defeated in any competitions since they visited Wasps on October 4. Exeter have lost just one of their last eight Premiership Rugby fixtures against Tigers – 13-20 at Welford Road in September 2017.

The teams:

Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Guy Porter, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Harry Simmons, 10 Zack Henry, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Calum Green, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 1 Nephi Leatigaga
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Blake Enever, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Jordan Taufua, 22 Ben White, 23 Joaquín Díaz Bonilla

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Facundo Cordero, 14 Ian Whitten, 13 Tom Hendrickson, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 Joe Simmonds, 9 Stu Townsend, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Don Armand, 4 Will Witty, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 1 Ben Moon
Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 James Kenny, 18 Marcus Street, 19 Tom Price, 20 Richard Capstick, 21 Jack Maunder, 22 Jack Walsh, 23 Josh Hodge

Venue: Welford Road
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales, Jack Makepeace
Television match official: Keith Lewis

Wasps v Newcastle Falcons

Lee Blackett has named his Wasps side to host Newcastle Falcons at Ricoh Arena on Saturday.

There are seven changes to the starting XV that played Gloucester last time out. Paolo Odogwu starts at outside centre, after impressing with two tries off the bench last weekend.

Jacob Umaga has recovered from the knock he picked up against Bristol Bears in the opening round to start at fly-half. Umaga’s recovery sees Jimmy Gopperth switch back to inside centre.

There is an all-new front-row with Simon McIntyre, Tommy Taylor and Jeff Toomaga-Allen packing down against the Falcons.

Levi Douglas will start his first game for Wasps, as he forms a second-row partnership with James Gaskell.

Alfie Barbeary, fresh from his England training squad call-up, starts at number eight. Barbeary is joined by captain Thomas Young and Ben Morris in the back-row.

Amongst the replacements Matteo Minozzi returns from international duty with Italy.

Also in reserve are Gabriel Oghre, who could make his first appearance of the season, and Will Porter, who could make his first Wasps appearance since March.

Meanwhile, Newcastle Falcons name an unchanged side for the third game in a row as they prepare for their Premiership trip to last season’s beaten finalists Wasps.

The game at the Ricoh Arena sees the same starting XV which defeated Sale Sharks 15-13 at home last Friday, having won 19-12 at Bath on the opening weekend – Newcastle becoming the first promoted team since 2005 to win their opening two fixtures.

The only two changes to their matchday 23 are both on the bench where there is a potential debut for former South Africa scrum-half Louis Schreuder – recently arrived from Super Rugby side the Sharks – who is joined among the replacements by fit-again centre George Wacokecoke.

Form: Wasps were defeated at Gloucester last Saturday, their first regular season loss in Premiership Rugby since Sale visited the Ricoh Arena on August 25. Wasps have won eight of their last nine fixtures in Coventry. Newcastle Falcons have become the first promoted team to win their first two matches in Premiership Rugby since Bristol did so in 2005. Newcastle beat Bath 19-12 at the Recreation Ground in Round One but have not won successive away games in Premiership Rugby since March 2018. The Falcons beat Wasps by a single point at the Ricoh Arena the last time the two teams met in March 2019 to end an 11-game winless run against Wasps in the tournament. Newcastle have won on two of their last three visits to Ricoh Arena in all competitions.

The teams:

Wasps: 15 Lima Sopoaga, 14 Zach Kibirige, 13 Paolo Odogwu, 12 Jimmy Gopperth, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Sam Wolstenholme, 8 Alfie Barbeary, 7 Thomas Young (c), 6 Ben Morris, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Levi Douglas, 3 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Simon McIntyre
Replacements: 16 Gabriel Oghre, 17 Tom West, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Tim Cardall, 20 Tom Willis, 21 Will Porter, 22 Michael Le Bourgeois, 23 Matteo Minozzi

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Tom Penny, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 Toby Flood, 11 Ben Stevenson, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Michael Young (c), 8 Gary Graham, 7 Connor Collett, 6 Sean Robinson, 5 Marco Fuser, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Logovi’i Mulipola, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Trevor Davison
Replacements: 16 Jamie Blamire, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Mark Tampin, 19 Darren Barry, 20 Josh Basham, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Joel Hodgson, 23 George Wacokecoke

Venue: Ricoh Arena
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Andrew Jackson
Assistant referees: John Meredith, Wayne Falla
Television match official: Graham Hughes

Worcester Warriors v Bath

Scotland internationals Duncan Weir and Cornell du Preez will make their first appearances of the Premiership season for Worcester Warriors against Bath at Sixways.

Fly-half Weir and number eight Du Preez missed the first two matches of the campaign due to their involvement in Scotland’s end-of-year campaign, but they have been released for club duty having been left out of the matchday squad for Saturday’s Autumn Nations Cup match against Ireland in Dublin.

Both go straight into the Warriors’ starting XV against Bath with Weir boasting a 100 per cent kicking record – five penalties and four conversions – in his two starts for Scotland against Italy and France.

Du Preez’s return to club duty is timely as the Warriors lost two back-row forwards, Matt Kvesic (neck) and Marco Mama (groin), to injuries against Bristol last week.

Former Scotland U20 international Tom Dodd joins du Preez and Ted Hill in the back-row at openside flanker for his first home Premiership start.

Fit-again wing Perry Humphreys will also make his first appearance of the season, displacing Tom Howe who scored a try in each of the first two matches of the campaign.

Loosehead prop Ethan Waller, who came off the bench at Bristol, starts in the fifth change to the starting XV as the Warriors welcome back supporters for the first time in 275 days.

Meanwhile, Bath have named a strong side for the trip to Sixways on Saturday.

The Blue, Black and White arrive in Worcester with a point to prove after two setbacks in their opening Premiership clashes of the new season.

There are three personnel changes to the starting XV who ran out at Sandy Park last weekend. Christian Judge starts on the tighthead with Henry Thomas ready to assert his influence from the bench.

Charlie Ewels has been retained by Eddie Jones for England’s Autumn Nations Cup finale against France and so it allows Elliott Stooke to make his first start of the new campaign.

Lastly, Semesa Rokoduguni is welcomed back onto the right wing as his fellow Fijian flyer Joe Cokansiga takes his place on the bench.

Form: Worcester Warriors’ four-game winning run in Premiership Rugby ended with their 13-30 reversal at Bristol on Saturday. The Warriors’ only defeat in their last four matches at Sixways was 13-36 to Bristol on September 4. Bath have begun their Premiership Rugby campaign with a pair of defeats for the first time since season 2009/10. Bath’s most recent victory in the competition was 31-24 at home to Gloucester on September 22. Bath have lost only two of their last fifteen Premiership Rugby encounters with Worcester, both at Sixways in April 2017 and January 2019. Bath’s overall record at Sixways is won nine, drawn one, lost four.

The teams:

Worcester Warriors: 15 Melani Nanai, 14 Perry Humphreys, 13 Oli Morris, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Nick David, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Cornell du Preez, 7 Tom Dodd, 6 Ted Hill (c), 5 Andrew Kitchener, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Richard Palframan, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Ethan Waller
Replacements: 16 Beck Cutting, 17 Callum Black, 18 Conor Carey, 19 George Merrick, 20 Joe Batley, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Billy Searle, 23 Ashley Beck

Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Cameron Redpath, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Josh Bayliss, 6 Mike Williams, 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 Josh McNally (c), 3 Christian Judge, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Ethan Staddon, 20 Miles Reid, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Max Wright, 23 Joe Cokanasiga

Venue: Sixways
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant referees: Simon Harding, Simon McConnell
Television match official: Geoff Warren

Sunday

London Irish v Sale Sharks

London Irish face off with Sale Sharks at the Brentford Community Stadium for Round Three of the Premiership on Sunday.

The Exiles will welcome supporters into their new home – back in town – for the first time, on what promises to be a memorable occasion for everyone connected to the club.

After impressing in last week’s victory over Leicester Tigers, Allan Dell, Agustin Creevy and Sekope Kepu all retain their starting places in the front-row.

George Nott and Andrei Mahu continue their partnership in the second-row. Jack Cooke starts at blindside flanker and there is a first Premiership start for Izzy Moore-Aiono, who is set to wear the seven jersey. Matt Rogerson completes the pack from number eight and captains the side once again.

Australia international Nick Phipps forms the half-back duo with Paddy Jackson.

An unchanged centre combination of Billy Meakes and Curtis Rona forms the midfield. Ben Loader and Ollie Hassell-Collins start on the wings, as Tom Homer is at full-back.

Meanwhile, Sale Sharks director of rugby Steve Diamond makes five changes to his matchday 23 that faced Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park last week, as a number of injuries force heavy rotation within the forwards.

Valeriy Morozov and Akker van der Merwe remain in the starting line-up, with the only change in the front-row being the inclusion of Will-Griff John at tighthead prop for the first time this season.

James Phillips keeps his place in the second-row for this weekend’s clash with Irish. The Premiership stalwart pairs up with ever reliable academy graduate Matt Postlethwaite in what is the second of three back-to-back away games for Sale.

Club captain Jono Ross returns to action after his late omission due to sickness last week. Ross moves into Ben Curry’s usual openside flanker position, with Cobus Wiese taking up the blindside role after a number of injuries in the Sharks back five. Jean-Luc du Preez replaces his twin brother Daniel at number eight.

Faf de Klerk and AJ MacGinty continue in their roles at half-back after two successive starts as a partnership. Rohan Janse van Rensburg and Sam James remain in the midfield outside them, with the sole change to the Sharks backline being in the inclusion of Marland Yarde in place of Denny Solomona. Yarde joins Simon Hammersley and Luke James in the back three for the trip to his former team’s new stadium.

Curtis Langdon, Bevan Rodd, Sam Dugdale and Ewan Ashman join Jake Cooper-Woolley, Will Cliff, Robert du Preez and Solomona in a bench mixed with youth and experience.

Form: London Irish opened their new ground at Brentford with a 22-9 victory over Leicester on Sunday, but have not won successive home games in Premiership Rugby since February 2016. Sale Sharks slipped to a 13-15 defeat at Newcastle last Friday and have not lost back to back Premiership Rugby encounters since they were defeated in their opening two games on their return to rugby in August. Sharks have not lost consecutive away games in the tournament since last December. Sale have won their last six Premiership Rugby fixtures against London Irish since the Exiles’ 25-23 victory at Madejski Stadium in April 2015.

The teams:

London Irish: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Billy Meakes, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Matt Rogerson (c), 7 Izzy Moore-Aiono, 6 Jack Cooke, 5 Andrei Mahu, 4 George Nott, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements: 16 Motu Matu’u, 17 Will Goodrick-Clarke, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Isaac Curtis-Harris, 20 Steve Mafi, 21 Ben Meehan, 22 Theo Brophy Clews, 23 Tom Parton

Sale Sharks: 15 Luke James, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Sam James, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Simon Hammersley, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Jono Ross (c), 6 Cobus Wiese, 5 James Phillips, 4 Matt Postlethwaite, 3 Will-Griff John, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Valerey Morozov
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 Sam Dugdale, 20 Ewan Ashman, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Rob du Preez, 23 Marland Yarde

Venue: Brentford Community Stadium
Kick-off: 14:30 GMT
Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant referees: Paul Dix, Jamie Leahy
Television match official: Nigel Carrick

Gloucester v Harlequins

Gloucester head coach George Skivington has named a largely unchanged side to play Harlequins at Kingsholm this Sunday.

Lewis Ludlow’s return to openside flanker and Jamal Ford Robinson coming in at loosehead are the only tweaks to the XV.

Alongside Ford-Robinson, Jack Singleton and Jack Stanley continue in the front-row with Ed Slater and Matt Garvey’s second-row partnership continuing behind them.

Ruan Ackermann keeps the number eight shirt and Jordy Reid will start at blindside flanker with Ludlow returning to the openside, resuming the captaincy.

In the backs, Joe Simpson starts at scrum-half with Lloyd Evans at fly-half after an impressive performance against Wasps. Mark Atkinson and Billy Twelvetrees link up in the centres again with Tom Seabrook, Ollie Thorley and Jason Woodward completing the back three.

Meanwhile, Harlequins travel to Gloucester in search for back-to-back wins at Kingsholm, having claimed a 28-15 victory in Round 20 of the 2019/20 season earlier this year.

Number eight Alex Dombrandt leads the side once more with regular club captain Stephan Lewies narrowly missing out through injury, with the back-row having captained Quins during a record-breaking 49-29 victory over Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens last weekend.

Returning to fitness, Chris Ashton starts at full-back in place of the rested Mike Brown, alongside wingers Cadan Murley and Nathan Earle, in an otherwise unchanged backline from the side that travelled to Northampton.

In the pack, flanker James Chisholm is rotated into the side at blindside having featured from the bench last time out, with Tom Lawday rotating on to the side’s replacements this weekend.

Also amongst the bench, Samoa international hooker Elia Elia returns to the matchday 23 having served a suspension for receiving a red card against Wasps towards the end of the 2019/20 season.

Form: Gloucester beat Wasps 40-24 at Kingsholm on Saturday but have not won successive Premiership Rugby matches since September. The Cherry & Whites’ only defeat at Kingsholm since August was against Sunday’s visitors, Harlequins, in Round 20 last season. Harlequins beat Northampton 49-29 at Franklin’s Gardens at the weekend but have not won back-to-back encounters in Premiership Rugby since Rounds 19 and 20 last season. The Londoners have won their last four away games in Premiership Rugby, their best sequence since September 2012. Harlequins’ only defeat in their last four Premiership Rugby encounters with Gloucester was 7-29 at the Twickenham Stoop in March 2019. Quins have won on three of their last four visits to Kingsholm.

The teams:

Gloucester: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Ollie Thorley, 13 Billy Twelvetrees (c), 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Tom Seabrook, 10 Lloyd Evans, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 Jordy Reid, 5 Matt Garvey, 4 Ed Slater, 3 Jack Stanley, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Jamal Ford-Robinson
Replacements: 16 James Hanson, 17 Val Rapava-Ruskin, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Alex Craig, 20 Freddie Clarke, 21 Will Flinn, 22 Henry Trinder, 23 Kyle Moyle

Harlequins: 15 Chris Ashton, 14 Nathan Earle, 13 Luke Northmore, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Alex Dombrandt (c), 7 Will Evans, 6 James Chisholm, 5 Glen Young, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Santiago Garcia Botta
Replacements: 16 Elia Elia, 17 Jordan Els, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 Hugh Tizard, 20 Tom Lawday, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Tyrone Green, 23 Paul Lasike

Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 16:15 GMT
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Greg Macdonald, Phil Watters
Television match official: Rowan Kitt

Bath