England wing Jonny May starts on Gloucester return; Scotland lock Jonny Gray named in Exeter Chiefs XV
Friday 14 August 2020 16:17, UK
There are debuts aplenty across Saturday's four Gallagher Premiership matches, which includes Bristol's clash with relegated champions Saracens and Leicester's trip to leaders Exeter.
Worcester Warriors vs Gloucester (Sixways, 12.30pm)
Jonny May starts on his Gloucester return while fellow England international Jack Singleton makes his debut at hooker.
Three other lockdown signings, Logovi'i Mulipola, Jack Stanley and Matt Garvey are named on the bench.
Billy Searle debuts for Worcester, partnering Francois Hougaard at half-back, while Matt Kvesic starts at No 8 against his former club.
Ted Hill becomes the youngest captain in Warriors history aged 21 years and 142 days.
Worcester Warriors: 15 Melani Nanai, 14 Tom Howe, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Scott van Breda, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Francois Hougaard; 1 Ethan Waller, 2 Niall Annett, 3 Nick Schonert, 4 Anton Bresler, 5 Graham Kitchener, 6 Ted Hill (c), 7 Sam Lewis, 8 Matt Kvesic.
Replacements: 16 Beck Cutting, 17 Lewis Holsey, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 GJ van Velze, 20 Cornell du Preez, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Francois Venter.
Gloucester: 15 Jason Woodward; 14 Ollie Thorley, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Jonny May, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Joe Simpson; 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin, 2 Jack Singleton, 3 Fraser Balmain, 4 Ed Slater, 5, Freddie Clarke, 6 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 8 Jake Polledri.
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Logovi'i Mulipola, 18, Jack Stanley, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Stephen Varney, 22 Tom Seabrook, 23 Louis Rees-Zammit.
Exeter Chiefs vs Leicester Tigers (Sandy Park, 2pm)
Scotland lock Jonny Gray makes his Exeter debut with Alec Hepburn, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Harry Williams forming an all-England front row.
Wales tighthead Tomas Francis could make his first appearance since last year's Rugby World Cup semi-final after recovering from a shoulder injury.
Leicester head coach Steve Borthwick has included four new signings in his matchday squad, including Argentina lock Tomas Lavanini and Scotland centre Matt Scott.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tom O'Flaherty, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Joe Simmonds (c), 9 Jack Maunder; 1 Alec Hepburn, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3 Harry Williams, 4 Jonny Gray, 5 Jonny Hill, 6 Dave Ewers, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 8 Sam Simmonds.
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Don Armand, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Gareth Steenson, 23 Ian Whitten,
Leicester Tigers: 15 George Worth, 14 David Williams, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Jordan Olowofela, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 3 Dan Cole, 4 Tomas Lavanini, 5 Calum Green, 6 Harry Wells, 7 Tommy Reffell, 8 Jordan Taufua.
Replacements: 16 Jake Kerr, 17 Nephi Leatigaga, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Hanro Liebenberg, 20 Luke Wallace, 21 Thom Smith, 22 Ben White, 23 Zack Henry.
Bath vs London Irish (Recreation Ground, 3pm)
Ben Spencer goes straight into the Bath starting line-up following his switch from Saracens while skipper Charlie Ewels makes his 100th appearance for the West Country club.
Anthony Watson starts at full-back with England team-mate Jonathan Joseph partnering Josh Matavesi in midfield.
Sean O'Brien captains the visitors with internationals Paddy Jackson and Nick Phipps named at half-back.
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Ben Spencer; 1 Lewis Boyce, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Will Stuart, 4 Josh McNally, 5 Charlie Ewels (c), 6 Zach Mercer, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Beno Obano, 18 Christian Judge, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Cameron Redpath, 23 Tom de Glanville.
London Irish: 15 Tom Parton, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Terrence Hepetema, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Nick Phipps; 1 Harry Elrington, 2 Motu Matu'u, 3 Sekope Kepu, 4 Ben Donnell, 5 George Nott, 6 Matt Rogerson, 7 Seán O'Brien (c), 8 Albert Tuisue.
Replacements: 16 Matt Cornish, 17 Will Goodrick-Clarke, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Sebastian de Chaves, 20 Blair Cowan, 21 Ben Meehan, 22 Theo Brophy Clews, 23 Matt Williams.
Bristol Bears vs Saracens (Ashton Gate, 4.30pm)
Fiji star Semi Radradra starts at outside centre after being recruited from Bordeaux, with Charles Piutau at full-back.
England prop Kyle Sinckler, another box-office newcomer to the Bears, features on the bench against the relegated champions, who are missing Owen Farrell to a tight quad.
Bristol Bears: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 Siale Piutau, 11 Henry Purdy, 10 Callum Sheedy; 9 Harry Randall; 1 Jake Woolmore, 2 Bryan Byrne, 3 John Afoa, 4 Dave Attwood, 5 Chris Vui, 6 Steven Luatua (c), 7 Dan Thomas, 8 Nathan Hughes.
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Ed Holmes, 20 Ben Earl, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Alapati Leiua.
Saracens: 15 Sean Maitland, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Dom Morris, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Alex Goode, 9 Richard Wigglesworth; 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Jamie George, 3 Vincent Koch, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Callum Hunter-Hill, 6 Mike Rhodes, 7 Jackson Wray, 8 Billy Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Tom Woolstencroft, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Joel Kpoku, 20 Sean Reffell, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Harry Sloan, 23 Elliott Obatoyinbo.
