The teams have been named for this weekend’s Premiership games, including the encounter between Gloucester and Northampton Saints at Kingsholm on Saturday.
Check out the line-ups and our predictions for all of the weekend’s games, here.
Friday
Bath v Harlequins
Form: Bath have won their last three Premiership Rugby matches their best run since September 2020. Bath have won back-to-back home Premiership games at the Rec, against Northampton and Leicester, and have not won three in succession in the tournament at the venue since September 2020. Harlequins have won their last three Premiership Rugby matches since their home defeat to Leicester in Round Six. The Londoners have won twice away from home in Premiership Rugby since early April at Newcastle in September and at Sale in October. Each side won its respective home game when the two clubs met last season. Harlequins have won on four of their last six visits to the Rec in all competitions.
Prediction: Harlequins by 5
The teams:
Bath: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Will Butt, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Ben Spencer (c), 8 Josh Bayliss, 7 Miles Reid, 6 Ted Hill, 5 Fergus Lee-Warner, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Valeriy Morozov
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Arthur Cordwell, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Will Spencer, 20 Tom Ellis, 21 Max Green, 22 Piers Francis, 23 Richard de Carpentier
Harlequins: 15 Nick David, 14 Cadan Murley, 13 Oscar Beard, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Tommy Allan, 9 Danny Care, 8 Alex Dombrandt (c), 7 Will Evans, 6 Jack Kenningham, 5 Irne Herbst, 4 Dino Lamb, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 George Head, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 George Hammond, 20 Archie White, 21 Lewis Gjaltema, 22 Will Edwards, 23 Lennox Anyanwu
Venue: Recreation Ground
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe (England), George Selwood (England)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)
Saturday
London Irish v Newcastle Falcons
Form: London Irish have won just one of their last eight Premiership Rugby matches: 47-38 at home to Bath Rugby in Round Four. The Exiles lost their most recent home game in Premiership Rugby by a solitary point to Gloucester on October 21 to end a three-game unbeaten run at the venue in the competition. Newcastle Falcons have won their last two Premiership Rugby matches, at Gloucester and at home to Exeter, and have not won three in succession in the competition since December 2020, which was also the last time they won successive away games, at Bath and at Wasps. London Irish have won three of their last four fixtures against Newcastle whilst Newcastle’s only victory on London Irish’s soil in Premiership Rugby since 2009 was 20-15 at Madejeski Stadium on December 30, 2017.
Prediction: London Irish by 3
The teams:
London Irish: 15 James Stokes, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Will Joseph, 12 Benhard van Rensburg, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ben White, 8 Josh Basham, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Matt Rogerson (c), 5 Chunya Munga, 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 3 Lovejoy Chawatama, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Facundo Gigena
Replacements: 16 Mike Willemse, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Oliver Hoskins, 19 Josh Caulfield, 20 Adam Coleman, 21 Chandler Cunningham-South, 22 Joe Powell, 23 Luca Morisi
Newcastle: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Ben Stevenson, 12 Matias Moroni, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Michael Young (c), 8 Carl Fearns, 7 Guy Pepper, 6 Callum Chick, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Richard Palframan, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Adam Brocklebank
Replacements: 16 Jamie Blamire, 17 Conrad Cade, 18 Mark Tampin, 19 Matthew Dalton, 20 Tom Marshall, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Tom Penny
Venue: Gtech Community Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Karl Dickson, Wayne Falla
TMO: Anthony Woodthorpe
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Gloucester v Northampton Saints
Form: Gloucester have slipped to three straight defeats in Premiership Rugby – their worst run in fixtures that were played since February 2021. Gloucester were defeated 21-27 by Newcastle last time out at Kingsholm in Premiership Rugby, their first reversal at the venue in the tournament since April. Northampton Saints’ last five matches in Premiership Rugby have all been won by the home side on the day with their only away win in the tournament this season being 40-36 at Wasps in Round Five. Last season each club won its respective home game in this fixture whilst the Saints have been victorious just once at Kingsholm since 2017: 31-26 in January 2021.
Prediction: Northampton by 3
The teams:
Gloucester: 15 Lloyd Evans, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Jonny May, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Ruan Ackermann, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Santiago Socino, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Jake Polledri, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Billy Twelvetrees, 23 Alex Hearle
Northampton: 15 George Furbank, 14 James Ramm, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Tommy Freeman, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Lewis Ludlam (c), 6 Alex Coles, 5 Alex Moon, 4 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Sam Matavesi, 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Emmanuel Iyogun, 18 Alfie Petch, 19 David Ribbans, 20 Angus Scott-Young, 21 Sam Graham, 22 Tom James, 23 Matt Proctor
Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 17:30 GMT
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Greg Macdonald, John Meredith
TMO: Andrew Jackson
HE'S 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 IN BUSINESS! 👔#BRIvLEI | #BristolBears | @huboofulfilment pic.twitter.com/uR23UWLaVd
— Bristol Bears 🐻 (@BristolBears) December 2, 2022
Bristol Bears v Leicester Tigers
Form: Bristol Bears have lost their last six Premiership Rugby matches since beating London Irish 40-36 in Brentford in Round Three. The Bears have not lost three in a row at Ashton Gate in Premiership Rugby since they were relegated in 2016/17. Leicester Tigers have an even won four, lost four record in Premiership Rugby this season, although they have won two of their five away games, at Northampton and at Harlequins. Leicester achieved a Premiership Rugby season’s double over Bristol last year for the first time since 2016/17. The Tigers’ 28-26 victory at Ashton Gate in December was only their second success at the venue having previously won there in November 2016.
Prediction: Leicester by 8
The teams:
Bristol Bears: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Deago Bailey, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 Piers O’Conor, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Will Porter, 8 Jake Heenan, 7 Sam Lewis, 6 Steven Luatua (c), 5 Joe Batley, 4 Chris Vui, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Bryan Byrne, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Jay Tyack, 19 John Hawkins, 20 Dan Thomas, 21 Andy Uren, 22 AJ MacGinty, 23 Joe Jenkins
Leicester: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Guy Porter, 12 Dan Kelly, 11 Anthony Watson, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg (c), 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Julián Montoya, 1 James Whitcombe
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Eli Snyman, 20 George Martin, 21 Jack van Poortvliet, 22 Charlie Atkinson, 23 Harry Potter
Venue: Ashton Gate
Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Mike Hudson, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Claire Hodnett