Premiership: Steven Luatua back to make his 100th appearance for Bristol Bears while Nemani Nadolo set for Leicester Tigers farewell

The teams have been named for this weekend’s Premiership games, including the clash between defending champions Leicester Tigers and bottom-placed London Irish at Welford Road on Sunday.

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

Friday

Harlequins v Gloucester

Form: Harlequins have won their last two Premiership Rugby fixtures, at Sale and at home to London Irish, and have not won three in succession in the competition since April. Harlequins have been defeated in two of their last four home games at the Twickenham Stoop in Premiership Rugby. Gloucester have lost their last two Premiership Rugby matches, at Sale and at home to Newcastle. Gloucester have won twice away from home in Premiership Rugby this campaign, at Bath in Round Five and at London Irish in Round Seven. The Londoners have won their last six encounters with Gloucester in Premiership Rugby since Gloucester’s 29-7 victory at the Stoop in March 2019. Gloucester have won only once at the Stoop in Premiership Rugby since 2006.

Prediction: Harlequins by 5

The teams:

Harlequins: 15 Nick David, 14 Cadan Murley, 13 Joe Marchant, 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 Luke Northmore

Gloucester: 15 Lloyd Evans, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Jake Morris, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Charlie Chapman, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 Ruan Ackermann, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Santiago Socino, 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Jack Singleton, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Jake Polledri, 21 Stephen Varney, 22 George Barton, 23 Jack Reeves

Venue: Twickenham Stoop
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Craig Maxwell-Keys, James Clarke
TMO: Stuart Terheege

Newcastle Falcons v Exeter Chiefs

Form: Newcastle Falcons‘ 27-21 victory at Gloucester in Round 10 ended a run of three successive defeats in Premiership Rugby. Newcastle’s only victory at Kingston Park in Premiership Rugby in 2022 was when they beat Bristol Bears there on September 30. Exeter Chiefs beat London Irish 22-17 in Round 10 to end a three-game losing streak in Premiership Rugby. The Chiefs’ only victory in their last four away games in Premiership Rugby was 50-14 at Bristol on October 7. Exeter have lost only once to Newcastle in any competition since January 2018 and that was by a solitary point at Sandy Park in November 2021. Exeter’s record at Kingston Park in Premiership Rugby is won eight, lost two.

Prediction: Newcastle by 3

The teams:

Newcastle: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Ben Stevenson, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Tom Penny, 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 Logovi’i Mulipola
Replacements: 16 Jamie Blamire, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Mark Tampin, 19 Sean Robinson, 20 Freddie Lockwood, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Adam Radwan, 23 Matias Orlando

Exeter: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Dan John, 13 Sean O’Brien, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Joe Simmonds, 9 Jack Maunder, 8 Jacques Vermeulen, 7 Christ Tshiunza, 6 Lewis Pearson, 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Ruben Van Heerden, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements: 16 Dan Frost, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Patrick Schickerling, 19 Jack Dunne, 20 Dave Ewers, 21 Sam Maunder, 22 Will Becconsall, 23 Solomone Kata

Venue: Kingston Park
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant referees: Neil Chivers, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Rowan Kitt

Saturday

Sale Sharks v Bristol Bears

Form: Sale Sharks’ 27-17 victory at home to Gloucester in Round Nine ended a two-game losing run in Premiership Rugby. The Sharks’ solitary defeat at Salford City Stadium in their last seven Premiership Rugby fixtures was 13-29 to Harlequins in Round Seven. Bristol Bears have lost their last five Premiership Rugby matches since beating London Irish at Ashton Gate on September 24. The Bears have not lost six in succession in the competition since they were relegated in season 2016/17. Bristol have won only once away from home in Premiership Rugby in the last 12 months: 23-8 at Wasps on 17 September. Sale have lost just one of their last five fixtures against Bristol in Premiership Rugby: 15-32 at Ashton Gate on January 7. The Bears’ only previous victory at AJ Bell Stadium in Premiership Rugby was by a single point, on their first ever visit, on New Year’s Day 2017.

Prediction: Sale by 8

The teams:

Sale: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Sam James, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Byron McGuigan, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Jono Ross (c), 6 Jean-Luc du Preez, 5 Josh Beaumont, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Ross Harrison
Replacements: 16 Tommy Taylor, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Joe Jones, 19 Rouban Birch, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Kieran Wilkinson, 23 Arron Reed

Bristol: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Sam Bedlow, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Will Porter, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Fitz Harding, 6 Steven Luatua (c), 5 Chris Vui, 4 Joe Batley, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Bryan Byrne, 1 Jake Woolmore
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Aristot Benz-Salomon, 18 Jay Tyack, 19 John Hawkins, 20 Jake Heenan, 21 Andy Uren, 22 AJ MacGinty, 23 Joe Jenkins

Venue: AJ Bell Stadium
Kick-off: 13:00 GMT
Referee: Adam Leal
Assistant referees: Simon Harding, John Meredith
TMO: Andrew Jackson

Sunday

Leicester Tigers v London Irish

Form: Leicester Tigers’ only victory in their last four Premiership Rugby matches was 27-19 at Harlequins in Round Six. The Tigers’ defeat to Sale in their most recent home game in Premiership Rugby on October 8 ended a 14-game winning run in the competition at Mattioli Woods Welford Road. London Irish have won just once in Premiership Rugby since the opening weekend: 47-38 at home to Bath in Round Four. The Exiles have lost their last six away games in the competition since beating Newcastle 42-14 at Kingston Park on April 22. The Tigers have won their last three encounters with London Irish in Premiership Rugby since their 9-22 defeat at GTech Community Stadium in November 2020. London Irish have won just once at Welford Road in any competition since 2003: 22-19 in Premiership Rugby in September 2014.

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Prediction: Leicester by 15

The teams:

Leicester: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Harry Potter, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Olly Cracknell, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg (c), 5 Calum Green, 4 George Martin, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Julián Montoya, 1 James Whitcombe
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Jasper Wiese, 21 Sam Edwards, 22 Charlie Atkinson, 23 Guy Porter

London Irish: 15 Tom Parton, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Will Joseph, 12 Benhard van Rensburg, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Joe Powell, 8 So’otala Fa’aso’o, 7 Tom Pearson, 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 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 21 Chandler Cunningham-South, 22 Ben White, 23 Luca Morisi

Venue: Welford Road
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace, Wayne Falla
TMO: David Rose