Springboks Rugby

Saracens Flip Springboks ‘Bomb Squad’ Bench Amid Injury Crisis While England Flyer Makes Debut after Mid-Season Switch

After a couple of weeks of Champions Cup action, the Premiership returns this weekend with one game taking place on Friday, two on Saturday and two on Sunday.

The action gets underway with Harlequins hosting Northampton Saints at the Stoop on Friday evening, with Gloucester and Leicester Tigers kickstarting Saturday’s action with Adam Radwan making his debut for the visitors.

With 16 first-team players either unavailable due to international selection or injuries, Saracens have taken drastic action for their clash against Exeter Chiefs, with Nick Tompkins likely to fill in the back-row with Mark McCall naming a 4-4 split on the bench. The Springboks’ famed ‘Bomb Squad’ tactic features six or seven forwards on the bench but McCall has named an even split as he flips the tactic on its head.

Sunday’s two fixtures see Sale Sharks host Bath while Newcastle are away to Bristol Bears.

Check on all the Premiership team news, here.

Friday

Harlequins v Northampton Saints

Harlequins: 15 Tyrone Green, 14 Nick David, 13 Will Joseph, 12 Ben Waghorn, 11 Cassius Cleaves, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Danny Care, 8 James Chisholm, 7 Will Evans, 6 Jack Kenningham, 5 Stephan Lewies (c), 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Simon Kerrod, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Jordan Els, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Irne Herbst, 20 Tom Lawday, 21 Will Porter, 22 Jamie Benson, 23 Leigh Halfpenny

Northampton Saints: 15 James Ramm, 14 Tom Litchfield, 13 Charlie Savala, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Tom Seabrook, 10 George Makepeace-Cubitt, 9 Archie McParland, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Josh Kemeny (c), 5 Tom Lockett, 4 Temo Mayanavanua, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Henry Walker, 1 Tarek Haffar
Replacements: 16 Craig Wright, 17 Tom West, 18 Luke Green, 19 Ed Prowse, 20 Callum Hunter-Hill, 21 Angus Scott-Young, 22 Tom James, 23 Will Glister

Venue: Twickenham Stoop
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant Referees: Calum Howard, Simon Harding
TMO: Dean Richards

Saturday

Gloucester v Leicester Tigers

Gloucester: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Max Llewellyn, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Jack Clement, 5 Cam Jordan, 4 Freddie Thomas, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Seb Blake, 1 Mayco Vivas
Replacements: 16 Jack Singleton, 17 Val Rapava-Ruskin, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Freddie Clarke, 20 Albert Tuisue, 21 Caolan Englefield, 22 Charlie Atkinson, 23 Josh Hathaway

Leicester Tigers: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Izaia Perese, 12 Solomone Kata, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Olly Cracknell, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Harry Wells, 4 Cameron Henderson, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Julian Montoya 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 James Cronin, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Come Joussain, 20 Emeka Ilione, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Joseph Woodward 23 Ben Volavola

Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 15:05 GMT
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe
Assistant Referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, John Meredith
TMO: Andrew Jackson

Exeter Chiefs v Saracens

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Tommy Wyatt, 14 Ben Hammersley, 13 Joe Hawkins, 12 Will Rigg, 11 Paul Brown-Bampoe, 10 Will Haydon-Wood, 9 Stu Townsend, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Richard Capstick, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 3 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 2 Jack Innard, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Dan Frost, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Marcus Street, 19 Rusi Tuima, 20 Franco Molina, 21 Tom Cairns, 22 Harvey Skinner, 23 Zack Wimbush

Saracens: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Tobias Elliott, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Olly Hartley, 11 Brandon Jackson, 10 Louie Johnson, 9 Ivan van Zyl (c), 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Nathan Michelow, 6 Max Eke, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Harry Wilson, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Kapeli Pifeleti, 1 Phil Brantingham
Replacements: 
16 James Hadfield, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Olamide Sodeke, 20 Nick Tompkins, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Fergus Burke, 23 Sam Spink

Venue: Sandy Park
Kick-off: 17:30 GMT
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant Referees: Sara Cox, Gareth Holsgrove
TMO: Dan Jones

Sunday

Sale Sharks v Bath

Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom O’Flaherty, 13 Will Addison, 12 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11 Arron Reed, 10 Rob du Preez (c), 9 Gus Warr, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Sam Dugdale, 6 Jean-Luc du Preez, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Ernst van Rhyn, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Ethan Caine, 1 Si McIntyre
Replacements: 16 Tadgh McElroy, 17 Tumy Onasanya, 18 Tye Raymont, 19 Jonny Hill, 20 Ben Bamber, 21 Nye Thomas, 22 Alex Wills, 23 Sam Bedlow

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Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Max Ojomoh, 12 Will Butt, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Alfie Barbeary, 7 Miles Reid,  6 Josh Bayliss, 5 Charlie Ewels (c), 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Kepu Tuipulotu, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Vilikesa Sela, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Ewan Richards, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Jaco Coetzee

Venue: Salford Community Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant Referees: Jack Makepeace, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Peter Allan

Bristol Bears v Newcastle Falcons

Bristol Bears: 15 Rich Lane, 14 Noah Heward, 13 Joe Jenkins, 12 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 11 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Fitz Harding (c), 6 Santiago Grondona, 5 Joe Owen, 4 James Dun, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 1 Yann Thomas
Replacements: 16 Will Capon, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 George Kloska, 19 Steven Luatua, 20 Jake Heenan, 21 Sam Wolstenholme, 22 Benjamin Elizalde, 23 Deago Bailey

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Max Pepper, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Max Clark, 11 Ben Stevenson, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart, 8 Callum Chick (c), 7 Freddie Lockwood, 6 Philip van der Walt, 5 Kiran McDonald, 4 Sebastian de Chaves, 3 Murray McCallum, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Adam Brocklebank
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Micky Rewcastle, 18 Luan de Bruin, 19 John Hawkins, 20 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 21 Joe Davis, 22 Kieran Wilkinson, 23 Oli Spencer

Venue: Ashton Gate
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant Referees: Adam Leal, Greg Macdonald
TMO: David Rose

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