There’s two games on the opening night of the 2022/23 Premiership season as Bristol Bears face Bath while Sale Sharks meet Northampton Saints.
Bristol Bears v Bath
New Bristol signing Ellis Genge will make his hometown return when the Bears face West Country rivals Bath at Ashton Gate in their opener on Friday.
Genge starts in the front-row alongside England teammate Kyle Sinckler and hooker Bryan Byrne, while Joe Joyce returns from injury to partner Chris Vui at lock.
Jake Heenan captains the side this week in the absence of Steven Luatua, while Magnus Bradbury is set for his first competitive appearance for the club at number eight alongside recent England call-up Sam Jeffries.
Harry Randall and Callum Sheedy are the half-backs, with Sam Bedlow and Piers O’Conor lining up in the midfield. Charles Piutau, Rich Lane and Luke Morahan complete the starting XV.
Elsewhere, AJ MacGinty and Sam Lewis could make their first competitive appearances for the club from the replacements bench.
Meanwhile, new Bath captain Ben Spencer will lead the side from scrum-half at Ashton Gate, in a starting XV that contains four debutants.
Piers Francis and Matt Gallagher start at fly-half and wing respectively. Tighthead prop Aranos Coetzee and flanker Chris Cloete are named among the forwards.
Having previously spent eight years at the Rec between 2011-2019, Dave Attwood will make it appearance 158 in Blue, Black and White alongside Josh McNally in the second-row.
Also in the pack, Beno Obano and Tom Dunn complete the front-row while blindside flanker Josh Bayliss and number eight Jaco Coetzee are also included.
Tom de Glanville will make his 50th club outing from full-back and is joined the back three by fellow homegrown player Gabriel Hamer-Webb.
Following a long period on the sidelines, Cameron Redpath is back in the centre alongside Will Butt.
Niall Annett and Louis Schreuder will earn their Bath Rugby debuts should they appear from the bench.
Form: Bristol Bears have won two of their last four Gallagher Premiership Rugby encounters. The Bears have lost just twice at Ashton Gate in Premiership Rugby in 2022 – to London Irish and Harlequins. Bristol have not been victorious on the opening weekend since beating Bath at Ashton Gate in 2019. Bath Rugby’s only victory in their last six Gallagher Premiership Rugby fixtures was 27-24 at home to London Irish on 21 May. Bath’s only victory on the road in any competition was on their long trip to Newcastle in Premiership Rugby at the end of February. Bath have lost on the opening weekend for the past four season’s since beating Leicester 27-23 at Welford Road in 2017. Bath’s 29-27 victory over the Bears at the Recreation Ground in March ended a five-game losing streak to Bristol in Premiership Rugby. Bath have won just once at Ashton Gate in Premiership Rugby, 19-9 in March 2008.
The teams:
Bristol Bears: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Sam Bedlow, 11 Rich Lane, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Jake Heenan (c), 6 Sam Jeffries, 5 Chris Vui, 4 Joe Joyce, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Bryan Byrne, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Will Capon, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Ed Holmes, 20 Sam Lewis, 21 Andy Uren, 22 AJ MacGinty, 23 Jack Bates
Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Gabriel Hamer-Webb, 13 Will Butt, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Matt Gallagher, 10 Piers Francis, 9 Ben Spencer (c), 8 Jaco Coetzee, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Josh Bayliss, 5 Josh McNally, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Lewis Boyce, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Will Spencer, 20 Ewan Richards, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Richard de Carpentier
Venue: Ashton Gate
Kick-off: 19:45 BST (18:45 GMT)
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant Referees: Greg Macdonald, Jonathan Healy
TMO: Rowan Kitt
Here are your Saints for tomorrow's @premrugby opener at Sale 💪
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— Northampton Saints 😇 (@SaintsRugby) September 8, 2022
Sale Sharks v Northampton Saints
England centre Manu Tuilagi starts at inside centre for Sale after recovering from knee surgery while Tom O’Flaherty makes his first league start for the club.
Sam James forms a partnership with Tuilagi in the midfield as boss Alex Sanderson looks for balance in the centre of the park against Northampton.
In the front-row, Simon McIntyre, Nick Schonert and hooker Akker van der Merwe pack down for the season opener.
Matt Postlethwaite gets his chance alongside Cobus Wiese in the second-row with Jonny Hill still unavailable due to his exploits with England in July.
The Du Preez twins start in the loose trio with Daniel at number eight and Jean-Luc on the flank alongside captain Ben Curry.
Gus Warr and Robert du Preez make up a new look half-back pairing with Raffi Quirke and George Ford sidelined with injury.
O’Flaherty and Tom Roebuck start alongside Luke James in Sale’s first back three of the season.
Sale’s front-row replacements are Tommy Taylor, Ross Harrison and Coenie Oosthuizen, with Jono Ross and Josh Beaumont the remaining forwards substitutes.
Two academy graduates, Tom Curtis and Arron Reed, are joined by new signing Joe Simpson on the bench as backline cover.
Meanwhile, Saints are set to unleash their new signings in second-row Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and flank Angus Scott-Young in the season opener.
Centre Fraser Dingwall leads the side and partners with Matt Proctor in the midfield, while Springbok Courtnall Skosan is joined by Ollie Sleightholme and Tom Collins in the back three.
Alex Mitchell and James Grayson make up the half-back pairing, with Juarno Augustus, Scott-Young and Aaron Hickley pack down in the loose trio in front of them.
Alex Coles joins debutant Salakaia-Loto in the second-row while Alex Waller, Mike Haywood and Paul Hill are in the front-row.
England star George Furbank is on the bench, while debuts could be earning for prop Alfie Petch and Sam Graham if they are introduced.
Form: Sale Sharks‘ only defeat in their last six Gallagher Premiership Rugby matches was 12-18 at home to Saracens on 1 April, this is their only defeat at Salford City Stadium in Premiership Rugby since losing there to Exeter in early October. The Sharks have been victorious in Round 1 for the past two seasons. Northampton Saints finished off the regular season with six wins from their last seven games before losing out at Leicester in the semi-finals. Saints have lost their last two away games in Premiership Rugby and have not lost three in succession on the road since December 2020. Northampton have been successful on the opening weekend in two of the past three seasons. Sale have lost just two of their last ten encounters with Northampton in Premiership Rugby, both at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens in 2019 and 2021. The Saints have won only twice in ten previous visits to Salford City Stadium in Premiership Rugby, on their first trip in 2012 and in 2017.
The teams:
Sale Sharks: 15 Luke James, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Sam James, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Ben Curry (c), 6 Jean-Luc du Preez, 5 Matt Postlethwaite, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Simon McIntyre
Replacements: 16 Tommy Taylor, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Jono Ross, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Tom Curtis, 23 Arron Reed
Northampton Saints: 15 Tom Collins, 14 Ollie Sleightholme, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Fraser Dingwall (c), 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 James Grayson, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Aaron Hinkley, 6 Angus Scott-Young, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Mike Haywood, 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi, 17 Emmanuel Iyogun, 18 Alfie Petch, 19 Alex Moon, 20 Sam Graham, 21 Tom James, 22 Tom Litchfield, 23 George Furbank
Venue: AJ Bell Stadium
Kick-off: 19:45 BST (18:45 GMT)
Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant Referees: Andrew Jackson, Wayne Falla
TMO: Dean Richards