Premiership: Courtney Lawes among several internationals to return for Northampton Saints ahead of huge Midlands derby

The teams have been named for this weekend’s Premiership games, including Saturday’s East Midlands derby between Northampton Saints and Leicester Tigers.

Check out the teams and our predictions for all of the matches, here.

Friday

Bath v Wasps

Form: Bath Rugby have lost their last three Gallagher Premiership Rugby matches since their 27-24 victory at home to London Irish in May. That was Bath’s first victory at the Recreation Ground since they beat Bristol Bears there in March. Wasps are without a victory in Premiership Rugby since beating Worcester at Coventry Building Society Arena at the end of April, although they did draw 42-all at London Irish on 1 May. Wasps have won just once away from home in Gallagher Premiership Rugby since February: 27-21 at Gloucester on 2 April. Wasps have won their last six fixtures against Bath in Premiership Rugby, their best sequence against the south-westerners, since Bath’s 29-17 win at the Rec in May 2019. Wasps have won on their last three visits to the Rec.

Prediction: Wasps by 4

The teams:

Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Will Muir, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Richard de Carpentier, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Miles Reid, 5 Josh McNally, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Lewis Boyce
Replacements: 16 Tom Doughty, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Aranos Coetzee, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 GJ van Velze, 21 Max Green, 22 Piers Francis, 23 Josh Bayliss

Wasps: 15 Jacob Umaga, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 Sam Spink, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Will Porter, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Jack Willis, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Kiran McDonald, 4 Joe Launchbury (c), 3 Biyi Alo, 2 Dan Frost, 1 Tom West
Replacements: 16 Gabriel Oghre, 17 Robin Hislop, 18 John Ryan, 19 Tim Cardall, 20 Ben Morris, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Ryan Mills, 23 Zach Kibirige

Venue: The Rec
Kick-off: 19:45 BST (18:45 GMT)
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Jonathan Healy
TMO: Luke Pearce

Saturday

Bristol Bears v London Irish

Form: Bristol Bears have begun their 2022/23 Premiership Rugby campaign with a pair of victories, at home to Bath and at Wasps. The Bears have only once before begun a Premiership season with three straight wins and that was in 1999. Bristol have won their last three home games in Premiership Rugby since their 29-38 reversal to Harlequins at Ashton Gate in March. London Irish have won just one of their last four Premiership Rugby encounters: 45-14 against Worcester Warriors at Gtech Stadium in Round One. The Exiles have won just once on the road in Premiership Rugby since February: 42-14 against Newcastle on 22 April. Last season each club won away from home when the two teams met, London Irish obtaining a first ever victory at Ashton Gate with their 49-32 win on 11 February.

Prediction: Bristol by 10

The teams:

Bristol: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Sam Bedlow, 11 Rich Lane, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Jake Heenan (c), 6 Chris Vui, 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Ed Holmes, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Will Capon, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 John Hawkins, 20 Dan Thomas, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Callum Sheedy, 23 Henry Purdy

London Irish: 15 Henry Arundell, 14 Will Joseph, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Benhard van Rensburg, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ben White, 8 Chandler Cunningham-South, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Matt Rogerson (c), 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 3 Oliver Hoskins, 2 Isaac Miller, 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke
Replacements: 16 Joseph Vajner, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Lovejoy Chawatama, 19 Josh Caulfield, 20 Ben Donnell, 21 Caolan Englefield, 22 James Stokes, 23 Ben Loader

Venue: Ashton Gate
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace, Wayne Falla
TMO: David Rose

Northampton Saints v Leicester Tigers

Form: This is the 250th East Midlands Derby with Leicester having the edge by 140 wins to 90 with 19 games drawn. Northampton opened their winning account in Premiership Rugby this season with a 38-22 victory at home to London Irish last weekend. The Saints have won their last five Premiership Rugby matches at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens and have not won six in a row at the venue since 2015. Leicester Tigers also obtained their first victory of the new campaign last weekend beating Newcastle Falcons at home 36-21. The Tigers record away from home in Premiership Rugby in 2022 is won three, lost five. Leicester won all three Premiership Rugby encounters with Northampton last season, including the semi-final in June.

Prediction: Leicester by 7

The teams:

Northampton: 15 George Furbank, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Matt Proctor, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Lewis Ludlam (c), 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 3 Alfie Petch, 2 Sam Matavesi, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Alex Moon, 20 Angus Scott-Young, 21 Tom James, 22 James Grayson, 23 Tom Collins

Leicester: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Harry Potter, 13 Guy Porter, 12 Jimmy Gopperth, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Hanro Liebenberg (c), 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 George Martin, 5 Calum Green, 4 Ollie Chessum, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Charlie Clare, 1 James Cronin
Replacements: 16 Joe Taufete’e, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Phil Cokanasiga, 23 Chris Ashton

Venue: Franklin’s Gardens
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant referees: Dan Jones, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Stuart Terheege

Saracens v Gloucester

Form: After a bye in week one, Saracens began their Premiership Rugby campaign with a 30-27 victory at Harlequins on Saturday. Saracens have lost only once at home in Premiership Rugby in their last fifteen games over the last two years, and that was by a single point to today’s opponents, Gloucester, at StoneX Stadium in January this year. Gloucester won their opening fixture of the new season beating Wasps at Kingsholm in Round One of Premiership Rugby but had a bye week in Round Two. Gloucester have lost their last five away games in Premiership Rugby since beating Newcastle at Kingston Park on January 29. Gloucester achieved a season’s Premiership Rugby double over Saracens in 2021/22 something they had not achieved since 2008/09. Gloucester have not secured successive victories on Saracens soil since 2008 when Saracens were playing at Vicarage Road.

Prediction: Saracens by 8

The teams:

Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Max Malins, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Duncan Taylor, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Andy Christie, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Theo McFarland, 3 Christian Judge, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Tom Woolstencroft, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Jackson Wray, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Manu Vunipola, 23 Josh Hallett

Gloucester: 15 Lloyd Evans, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Albert Tuisue, 7 Harry Taylor, 6 Ruan Ackermann (c), 5 Alex Craig, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Harry Elrington
Replacements: 16 Santiago Socino, 17 Val Rapava-Ruskin, 18 Jamal Ford-Roboinson, 19 Cameron Jordan, 20 Jordy Reid, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Billy Twelvetrees, 23 Kyle Moyle

Venue: StoneX Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Greg Macdonald, Phil Watters
TMO: Rowan Kitt

Worcester Warriors v Newcastle Falcons

Form: Worcester Warriors have lost their opening two fixtures of the new campaign but did beat Bath at Sixways in the final round of Premiership Rugby last season. Worcester’s other two home wins in 2022 came at the expense of Bristol in February and Exeter in March. Newcastle Falcons have slipped to six successive Premiership Rugby defeats since their last trip to face Worcester at Sixways ended in a 45-10 victory on April 2. That was the Falcons only away win in the tournament since November. Worcester’s only victory over Newcastle in Premiership Rugby since April 2018 was a “declared” win due to Covid in February 2021.

Prediction: Worcester by 5

The teams:

Worcester: 15 Jamie Shillcock, 14 Alex Hearle, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Francois Venter (c), 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Gareth Simpson, 8 Tom Dodd, 7 Cameron Neild, 6 Fergus Lee-Warner, 5 Andrew Kitchener, 4 Joe Batley, 3 Jay Tyack, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Murray McCallum
Replacements: 16 Hame Faiva, 17 Kai Owen, 18 Jack Owlett, 19 Graham Kitchener, 20 Matt Kvesic, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Oli Morris, 23 Noah Heward

Newcastle: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Ben Stevenson, 12 George Wacokecoke, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti, 8 Callum Chick, 7 Connor Collett, 6 Sean Robinson, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 George McGuigan (c), 1 Phil Brantingham
Replacements: 16 Charlie Maddison, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Mark Tampin, 19 George Merrick, 20 Jamie Blamire, 21 Josh Barton, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Tom Penny

Venue: Sixways
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Adam Leal
Assistant referees: Andrew Jackson and John Meredith
TMO: Claire Hodnett

Sunday

Exeter Chiefs v Harlequins

Form: Exeter Chiefs have won their last three Premiership Rugby matches since their 33-40 defeat at Bristol on May 20. Exeter have lost just twice at Sandy Park in Premiership Rugby in 2022, 26-27 to Wasps in February and 17-22 to Leicester in March. Harlequins have won just one of their last four Premiership Rugby matches: 40-31 at Newcastle in Round One. That victory ended a run of three straight defeats on the road in the competition. Each club won its respective home game when the two teams met last season whilst Harlequins only victory at Sandy Park since 2014 was in the Premiership Rugby Cup in February 2020.

Prediction: Exeter by 5

The teams:

Exeter: 15 Joes Simmonds, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Stuart Townsend, 8 Richard Capstick, 7 Christ Tshiunza, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie (c), 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 James Kenny, 18 Patrick Schickerling, 19 Dafydd Jenkins, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Sam Maunder, 22 Rory O’Loughlin, 23 Stuart Hogg

Harlequins: 15 Tyrone Green, 14 Nick David, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Lennox Anyanwu, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Lewis Gjaltema, 8 Archie White, 7 Will Evans, 6 Jack Kenningham, 5 Irne Herbst, 4 George Hammond, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Jack Walker (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 George Head, 17 Santiago Garcia Botta, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 Dino Lamb, 20 Matas Jurevicius, 21 Danny Care, 22 Tommy Allan, 23 Luke Northmore

Venue: Sandy Park
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Joe James and Phil Watters
TMO: Dean Richards

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