Six Nations stars immediately back in domestic action : PlanetRugby

The teams have been named for this weekend’s Premiership games, including the encounter between fifth-placed London Irish and Northampton Saints, who are fourth, at Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday.

Check out the teams and our predictions for all of the weekend’s games, here.

Friday

Newcastle Falcons v Gloucester

Form: Newcastle Falcons have lost their last four Premiership Rugby fixtures since beating Leicester Tigers 45-26 at Kingston Park on 7 January. The Falcons slipped to a 19-34 defeat to London Irish last time out at Kingston Park to end a three-game winning run at the venue in all competitions. Gloucester have won just once in their last five Premiership matches: 28-26 over Harlequins at Kingsholm in Round 17. Gloucester have not won away from home in the league since their narrow 22-21 win at London Irish on 21 October. The Falcons beat Gloucester 27-21 in Round 10 and have not achieved a Premiership Rugby season’s double over the West Countrymen since 2016/17. Gloucester have won on three of their last four visits to Kingston Park in the Premiership.

Prediction: Gloucester by 7

The teams:

Newcastle: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Matias Orlando, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Michael Young (c), 8 Carl Fearns, 7 Callum Chick, 6 Pedro Rubiolo, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Richard Palframan, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Adam Brocklebank
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Logovi’i Mulipola, 18 Mark Tampin, 19 Freddie Lockwood, 20 Tom Marshall, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Josh Thomas, 23 Ben Stevenson.

Gloucester: 15 Lloyd Evans, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Santi Carreras, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Jordy Reid, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Seb Blake, 1 Harry Elrington
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Billy Twelvetrees, 23 Tom Seabrook

Venue: Kingston Park
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Adam Leal
Assistant referees: George Selwood, John Meredith
TMO: Andrew Jackson

Saturday

Leicester Tigers v Bristol Bears

Form: Leicester Tigers have won their last four Premiership Rugby matches since their 18-19 loss at home to Northampton Saints at the end of January. The Tigers other home defeat in Premiership Rugby this season was 16-26 to Sale Sharks in Round 5. Bristol Bears have won their last four Premiership Rugby encounters since their defeat by a solitary point to Saracens at StoneX Stadium on 28 January. The Bears have not won five in succession for almost two years. Bristol won their most recent away game in Premiership Rugby, 15-13 at Bath Rugby on 24 February and have not won back-to-back matches on their travels since May 2021. The two clubs drew 26-26 at Ashton Gate in Round 12, their first tie since an 11-11 draw at Memorial Stadium in 1969. The Bears have won on two of their last four visits…