England captain Maro Itoje will return to captain a Saracens side containing four of his international team-mates during the Guinness Six Nations when they host Harlequins in the Gallagher Premiership on Saturday.
Itoje will start in the second-row at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Elliot Daly, Jamie George and Tom Willis also in the starting XV.
Despite starting on the bench in round one against Ireland and round five in the mauling of Wales, No.8 Willis, like Itoje, featured in every match of the Championship for Steve Borthwick’s side. George and Daly missed the round one fixture before having the rest of their tournament split between the starting XV and bench appearances. Back-row Ben Earl has been given a rest by Mark McCall after a busy two months.
Theo Dan will also take his place among the substitutes after featuring in round one against Ireland. He will be joined on the bench by Andy Onyeama-Christie, who will be making his Premiership return after a gruesome ankle injury in October, which required surgery.
Fixture
Gallagher Premiership
Saracens
Harlequins
They will face a Harlequins side that have opted to rest their England internationals who featured in the Six Nations. Marcus Smith, Chandler Cunningham-South, Fin Baxter and the injured Cadan Murley will all miss the trip to the Premier League venue, though England squad members Alex Dombrandt and Oscar Beard will feature.
Quins are the only side that have opted to rest all of their England internationals that played in the Championship, though none has made Bath’s starting XV that will host Gloucester. Scotland’s Finn Russell will reclaim the No.10 shirt though.
Friday
Newcastle Falcons v Sale Sharks
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Oli Spencer, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Max Clark, 11 Alex Hearle, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart; 1 Adam Brocklebank, 2 Jamie Blamire, 3 Murray McCallum, 4 Philip van der Walt, 5 Kiran McDonald, 6 Freddie Lockwood, 7 Cameron Neild, 8 Callum Chick (c)
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Micky Rewcastle, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Sebastian de Chaves, 20 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 21 Joe Davis, 22 Kieran Wilkinson, 23 Louis Brown
Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Rekeiti Ma’asi White, 12 Rob du Preez, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford 9 Gus Warr, 1 Bevan Rodd, 2 Tadgh McElroy, 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour 4 Ben Bamber, 5 Jonny Hill, 6 Ernst van Rhyn, 7 Ben Curry (c), 8 JL du Preez
Replacements: 16 Harry Thompson, 17 Si McIntyre, 18 WillGriff John, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Nye Thomas, 22 Sam Bedlow, 23 Arron Reed
Northampton Saints v Leicester Tigers
Northampton Saints: 15 George Hendy, 14 James Ramm, 13 Fraser Dingwall (c), 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Tom Seabrook, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Tom James; 1 Emmanuel Iyogun, 2 Curtis Langdon, 3 Trevor Davison, 4 Temo Mayanavanua, 5 Tom Lockett, 6 Josh Kemeny, 7 Tom Pearson, 8 Juarno Augustus
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Luke Green, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Chunya Munga, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Jonny Weimann, 23 Burger Odendaal
Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Solomone Kata, 12 Joseph Woodward, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Jack van Poortvliet; 1 Nicky Smith, 2 Julian Montoya, 3 Joe Heyes, 4 Cameron Henderson, 5 Harry Wells, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Tommy Reffell, 8 Olly Cracknell
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 James Whitcombe, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Côme Joussain, 20 Emeka Ilione, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Ben Volavola, 23 Izaia Perese
Saturday
Saracens v Harlequins
Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Tobias Elliott, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Ivan van Zyl; 1 Eroni Mawi, 2 Jamie George, 3 Marco Riccioni , 4 Maro Itoje (c), 5 Hugh Tizard, 6 Theo McFarland, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 8 Tom Willis
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Phil Brantingham, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Andy Onyeama-Christie, 21 Nathan Michelow, 22 Gareth Simpson, 23 Alex Goode
Harlequins: 15. Leigh Halfpenny, 14. Rodrigo Isgro, 13. Oscar Beard, 12. Ben Waghorn, 11. Nick David, 10. Jarrod Evans, 9. Will Porter; 1. Wyn Jones, 2. Jack Walker, 3. Titi Lamositele, 4. Joe Launchbury, 5. Stephan Lewies, 6. Jack Kenningham, 7. Will Evans, 8. Alex Dombrandt (c)
Replacements: 16. Sam Riley, 17. Jordan Els, 18. Will Hobson, 19. Irne Herbst, 20. George Hammond, 21. Jake Murray, 22. Jamie Benson, 23. Tyrone Green
Bristol Bears v Exeter Chiefs
Bristol Bears: 15 Rich Lane, 14 Jack Bates, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 James Williams, 11 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Harry Randall; 1 Jake Woolmore, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 3 George Kloska, 4 James Dun, 5 Joe Owen, 6 Santiago Grondona, 7 Fitz Harding (c), 8 Viliame Mata
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Josh Caulfield, 20 Steven Luatua, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Benjamin Elizalde, 23 Siva Naulago
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Dan John, 14 Paul Brown-Bampoe, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Will Rigg, 11 Josh Hodge, 10 Ben Coen, 9 Tom Cairns; 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke, 2 Max Norey, 3 Jimmy Roots, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 5 Christ Tshiunza, 6 Martin Moloney, 7 Richard Capstick, 8 Greg Fisilau
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 19 Lewis Pearson, 20 Kane James, 21 Niall Armstrong, 22 Harvey Skinner, 23 Ben Hammersley
Gallagher Premiership
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
11
9
2
0
46
2
11
7
4
0
40
3
11
6
5
0
35
4
11
6
4
1
35
5
11
6
5
0
34
6
11
5
5
1
32
7
11
6
5
0
29
8
11
5
6
0
26
9
11
2
9
0
15
10
11
2
9
0
9
Sunday
Bath Rugby v Gloucester Rugby
Bath Rugby: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Ruaridh McConnochie, 13 Max Ojomoh, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Will Muir, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer; 1 Beno Obano, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Thomas du Toit, 4 Quinn Roux, 5 Charlie Ewels, 6 Josh Bayliss, 7 Guy Pepper, 8 Alfie Barbeary
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Ted Hill, 20 Sam Underhill, 21, Louis Schreuder, 22 Will Butt, 23 Jaco Coetzee
Gloucester Rugby: 15 George Barton, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Max Llewellyn, 10 Santi Carreras, 9 Tomos Williams; 1 Ciaran Knight, 2 Seb Blake, 3 Afo Fasogbon, 4 Freddie Clarke, 5 Freddie Thomas, 6 Jack Clement, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 8 Ruan Ackermann
Replacements: 16 Jack Singleton, 17 Val Rapava-Ruskin, 18 Kirill Gotovtsev, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Harry Taylor, 21 Caolan Englefield, 22 Charlie Atkinson, 23 Josh Hathaway
