Newcastle Falcons v Leicester Tigers: Aviva Premiership preview
Last Updated: 12/02/16 7:19pm
Chris Harris and Marcus Watson return to the Newcastle starting XV for Friday's Premiership clash at home to Leicester.
Harris's return sees the Cumbrian back to take the outside centre shirt for the eighth time for the club, while Adam Powell moves across to the inside centre berth in place of Juan Pablo Socino, who moves to the bench.
Former England 7s star Watson's return will see him line up on the left wing and look to build on his last outing which saw him score his debut Premiership try to back up the six he collected in the group stages of the European competition.
Partnering Watson on the wing, Alex Tait will be looking to face off against brother Mathew for the eighth time in his 171st Newcastle Falcons appearance.
Simon Hammersley and Michael Young continue at full-back and scrum-half respectively while Andy Goode makes his first home start for the club after scoring 14 points in his first two Aviva Premiership appearances in a Falcons shirt.
Former Leicester Tiger and Samoan international Alesana Tuilagi is named on the bench for the first time this year after recovering from a hamstring injury.
Full-back Telusa Veainu and prop Marcos Ayerza return to Leicester's starting line-up after sitting out their home defeat by Sale last weekend.
Tom Croft reclaims a place in the back-row after starting on the bench against Sharks, with Mike Fitzgerald moving into the second row as a replacement for the suspended Dom Barrow.
Newcastle: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Alex Tait, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Adam Powell, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Michael Young; 1 Bobby Vickers, 2 Scott Lawson, 3 Taione Vea, 4 Mark Wilson, 5 Sean Robinson, 6 Will Welch (c), 7 Nili Latu, 8 Ally Hogg.
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Alex Rogers, 18 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 Alesana Tuilagi, 21 Sonatane Takulua, 22 Craig Willis, 23 Juan Pablo Socino.
Leicester:15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Peter Betham, 13 Mathew Tait (c), 12 Matt Smith, 11 Gonzalo Camacho, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Sam Harrison; 1 Marcos Ayerza, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3 Fraser Balmain, 4 Mike Fitzgerald, 5 Graham Kitchener, 6 Tom Croft, 7 Lachlan McCaffrey, 8 Jordan Crane.
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Logovi'i Mulipola, 18 Greg Bateman, 19 Sebastian De Chaves, 20 Laurence Pearce, 21 Jono Kitto, 22 Oli Bryant, 23 Jack Roberts