Saturday 20 December 2014 13:46, UK
Northampton welcome back England centre Luther Burrell for their east midlands derby against Leicester.
Burrell returns to the 12 shirt with Tom Stephenson moving to outside centre. Saints have also made three changes to the pack with Alex Waller coming in at prop, Christian Day slotting in at lock and Samu Manoa in on the flank.
For Leicester, Tom Croft and Tom Youngs return to the starting line-up. The England internationals were included among the replacements for last weekend's European trip to Toulon but have a starting role at Franklin's Gardens.
Graham Kitchener returns to the pack as Brad Thorn is ruled out by a calf injury, and Jordan Crane wears the No 8 shirt.
Marcos Ayerza makes his 200th appearance for the Tigers, the 90th player to reach that landmark in the club's 134-year history.
Northampton: 15 James Wilson, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 Tom Stephenson, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 George North, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i; 1 Alex Waller, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 4 Courtney Lawes, 5 Christian Day, 6 Calum Clark, 7 Tom Wood, 8 Samu Manoa.
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Sam Dickinson, 20 Phil Dowson, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 Jamie Elliott, 23 Ben Foden
Leicester: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Blaine Scully, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Ben Youngs (c); 1 Marcos Ayerza, 2 Tom Youngs, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Graham Kitchener, 5 Geoff Parling, 6 Tom Croft, 7 Julian Salvi, 8 Jordan Crane.
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Fraser Balmain, 18 Michele Rizzo, 19 Sebastian De Chaves, 20 Robert Barbieri, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Miles Benjamin.
Gloucester v Bath
Stuart Hooper and Kyle Eastmond return to Bath's starting line-up.
Skipper Hooper joins Dominic Day in the second row, while Eastmond renews his centre partnership with Jonathan Joseph. High-profile league convert Sam Burgess will get his first taste of the west country derby off the bench.
Gloucester welcome back Sione Kalamafoni, Greig Laidlaw and Tom Palmer after they were rested for last week’s European win over Zebre, but they will be without Gareth Evans and Ben Morgan who are ruled out due to injury.
Tonga international David Halaifonua has also been named in the matchday 23 for the first time.
Gloucester: 15 Steve McColl, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Henry Purdy, 12 Billy Twelvetrees (c), 11 Jonny May, 10 James Hook, 9 Greig Laidlaw; 1 Yann Thomas, 2 Richard Hibbard, 3 John Afoa, 4 Tom Savage, 5 Tom Palmer, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Matt Kvesic, 8 Ross Moriarty.
Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Nick Wood, 18 Sila Puafisi, 19 James Hudson, 20 Elliott Stooke, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Mark Atkinson, 23 David Halaifonua
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 George Ford, 9 Chris Cook; 1 Paul James, 2 Ross Batty, 3 David Wilson, 4 Stuart Hooper (c), 5 Dominic Day, 6 Alafoti Fa'osiliva, 7 Francois Louw, 8 Leroy Houston.
Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Carl Fearns, 21 Micky Young, 22 Ollie Devoto, 23 Sam Burgess.
Harlequins v Newcastle
Harlequins have made six changes to the side that lost to Leinster in last weekend’s European Rugby Champions Cup.
Mark Lambert, Joe Gray and Kyle Sinckler start in the front row, while George Robson captains the side from an unchanged second row.
Joe Trayfoot and James Chisholm, who makes his first Premiership start, are named alongside Jack Clifford in the back-row.
Tim Swiel will also make his first Premiership start as Nick Evans continues his recovery from injury.
Newcastle Falcons have also rung the changes with club captain Will Welch returning to action while Scott Wilson, Ally Hogg, Sinoti Sinoti, Alex Tuilagi and Mike Blair take their places in a revamped starting line-up.
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 George Lowe, 11 Aseli Tikoirotuma, 10 Tim Swiel, 9 Karl Dickson; 1 Mark Lambert, 2 Joe Gray, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 4 Charlie Matthews, 5 George Robson (c), 6 Joe Trayfoot, 7 Jack Clifford, 8 James Chisholm
Replacements: 16 Dave Ward, 17 Darryl Marfo, 18 Will Collier, 19 Sam Twomey, 20 George Merrick, 21 Danny Care, 22 Ross Chisholm, 23 Ugo Monye
Newcastle: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Sinoti Sinoti, 13 Adam Powell, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Alex Tuilagi, 10 Tom Catterick, 9 Mike Blair; 1 Rob Vickers, 2 George McGuigan, 3 Scott Wilson, 4 Calum Green, 5 Dom Barrow, 6 Mark Wilson, 7 Will Welch (c), 8 Ally Hogg.
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Eric Fry, 18 Mark Irving, 19 Kane Thompson, 20 Josh Furno, 21 Ruki Tipuna, 22 Andy Tuilagi, 23 Noah Cato.
Saracens v London Welsh
No 8 Ernst Joubert will captain Saracens against the red-hot Premiership relegation favourites at Allianz Park.
Elsewhere, scrum-half Neil de Kock replaces Richard Wigglesworth and partners Owen Farrell at half-back, while hooker Brett Sharman starts his first Premiership game for the club.
London Welsh show 11 changes, including four positional switches, as they resume domestic action. Flanker Carl Kirwan will skipper a side that includes starts for full-back Will Robinson, centre Nic Reynolds and New Zealander Piri Weepu, who features at fly-half.
Saracens: 15 Ben Ransom, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Duncan Taylor, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Neil De Kock; 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Brett Sharman, 3 James Johnston, 4 George Kruis, 5 Jim Hamilton, 6 Jackson Wray, 7 Kelly Brown, 8 Ernst Joubert (c).
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Petrus Du Plessis, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Charlie Hodgson, 23 Nick Tompkins.
London Welsh: 15 Will Robinson, 14 Seb Stegmann, 13 Nic Reynolds, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Elliot Kear, 10 Piri Weepu, 9 Rob Lewis; 1 Rickey Reeves, 2 Koree Britton, 3 Taione Vea, 4 Peter Browne, 5 James Down, 6 Lachlan McCaffrey, 7 Carl Kirwan (c), 8 Opeti Fonua.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Morris, 17 Nathan Trevett, 18 Ben Cooper, 19 Dean Schofield, 20 Ben Pienaar, 21 Paul Rowley, 22 Tom May, 23 Nick Scott.
