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All 10 team selections for Gallagher Premiership round one
By Liam Heagney
The 2024/25 Gallagher Premiership gets under way on Friday night in Newcastle and Bath, with Saturday matches following at Exeter and Gloucester before the opening round concludes at Sale on Sunday afternoon.
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All 10 clubs have named their teams and numerous selections catch the eye. For instance, Beno Obano, whose red card was influential in tilting last June’s Twickenham showpiece result in favour of Northampton, has completed his suspension and is a Bath starter versus the Saints at The Rec.
Curiously, despite England’s World Rugby U20 Championship winners garnering great publicity for looking the part in South Africa in July, only two of Mark Mapletoft’s youngsters will feature as Premiership round one starters – props Asher Opoku-Fordjour of Sale and Gloucester’s Afo Fasogbon. Ben Redshaw is named as a Newcastle sub.
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Another curiosity is the number of England tour starters who will begin their campaigns in this new era of the enhanced EPS contracts controlled by Steve Borthwick on the club bench.
Test skipper Jamie George is a Saracens replacement at Kingsholm as is club teammate Ben Earl. Northampton’s Tommy Freeman and Harlequins’ Marcus Smith are other notable weekend subs.
In contrast, the likes of Leicester’s Ollie Chessum and Bristol’s Ellis Genge, who missed the England tour to the Far East and New Zealand through injury, are now fit and ready to start. Here are the teams named for all five Premiership round one matches:
FRIDAY
Bath vs Northampton Saints (The Rec, 7.45pm) – Live on TNT Sport 1 and UHD
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Bath Rugby: 15. Tom de Glanville, 14. Joe Cokanasiga, 13. Ollie Lawrence, 12. Will Butt, 11. Will Muir, 10. Finn Russell, 9. Ben Spencer (c), 1. Beno Obano, 2. Tom Dunn, 3. Will Stuart, 4. Quinn Roux, 5. Charlie Ewels, 6. Ted Hill, 7. Miles Reid, 8. Alfie Barbeary. Reps: 16. Niall Annett, 17. Francois van Wyk, 18. Archie Griffin, 19. Jacques du Plessis, 20. Guy Pepper, 21. Louis Schreuder, 22. Orlando Bailey, 23. Jaco Coetzee.
Northampton: 15. George Furbank (c), 14. James Ramm, 13. Fraser Dingwall, 12. Rory Hutchinson, 11. Ollie Sleightholme, 10. Fin Smith, 9. Tom James, 1. Emmanuel Iyogun, 2. Curtis Langdon, 3. Trevor Davison, 4. Angus Scott-Young, 5. Chunya Munga, 6. Josh Kemeny, 7. Tom Pearson, 8. Sam Graham. Reps: 16. Robbie Smith, 17. Tom West, 18. Luke Green, 19. Callum Hunter-Hill, 20. Juarno Augustus, 21. Archie McParland, 22. Toby Thame, 23. Tommy Freeman.
Newcastle Falcons vs Bristol Bears (Kingston Park, 7.45pm) – Live on discovery+
Newcastle: 15. Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14. Adam Radwan, 13. Connor Doherty, 12. Sammy Arnold, 11. Ben Stevenson, 10. Brett Connon, 9. Sam Stuart, 1. Adam Brocklebank, 2. Jamie Blamire, 3. Richard Palframan, 4. John Hawkins, 5. Kiran McDonald, 6. Philip van der Walt, 7. Tom Gordon, 8. Callum Chick (c). Reps: 16. Ollie Fletcher, 17. Luan de Bruin, 18. Murray McCallum, 19. Freddie Lockwood, 20. Adam Scott, 21. Joe Davis, 22. Louis Brown, 23. Ben Redshaw.
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Bristol: 15. Max Malins, 14. Siva Naulago, 13. Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12. James Williams, 11. Gabriel Ibitoye, 10. AJ MacGinty, 9. Harry Randall, 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Harry Thacker, 3. Max Lahiff, 4. James Dun, 5. Joe Batley, 6. Steven Luatua, 7. Jake Heenan, 8. Fitz Harding (c). Reps: 16. Gabriel Oghre, 17. Jake Woolmore, 18. George Kloska, 19. Josh Caulfield, 20. Benjamin Grondona, 21. Kieran Marmion, 22. Joe Jenkins, 23. Rich Lane.
SATURDAY
Exeter Chiefs vs Leicester Tigers (Sandy Park, 3.05pm) – Live on TNT Sport 1 and UHD
Exeter: 15. Josh Hodge, 14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13. Ben Hammersley, 12. Joe Hawkins, 11. Olly Woodburn, 10. Harvey Skinner, 9. Niall Armstrong, 1. Scott Sio (c), 2. Dan Frost, 3. Ehren Painter, 4. Rusi Tuima, 5. Richard Capstick, 6. Ethan Roots, 7. Ross Vintcent, 8. Greg Fisilau. Reps: 16. Jack Yeandle, 17. Will Goodrick-Clarke, 18. Josh Iosefa-Scott, 19. Jack Dunne, 20. Christ Tshiunza, 21. Tom Cairns, 22. Will Haydon-Wood, 23. Paul Brown-Bampoe.
Leicester: 15. Freddie Steward, 14. Josh Bassett, 13. Izaia Perese, 12. Solomone Kata, 11. Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10. Jamie Shillcock, 9. Jack van Poortvliet, 1. Nicky Smith, 2. Charlie Clare, 3. Joe Heyes, 4. Harry Wells, 5. Ollie Chessum (c), 6. Hanro Liebenberg, 7. Olly Cracknell, 8. Kyle Hatherell. Reps: 16. Finn Theobald-Thomas, 17. James Cronin, 18. Dan Cole, 19. Come Joussain, 20. Tommy Reffell, 21. Ben Youngs, 22. Ben Volavola, 23. Dan Kelly.
Gloucester vs Saracens (Kingsholm, 5.30pm) – Live on TNT Sports 1 and UHD Ultimate
Gloucester: 15. George Barton, 14. Christian Wade, 13. Chris Harris, 12. Max Llewellyn, 11. Ollie Thorley, 10. Gareth Anscombe, 9. Tomos Williams, 1. Val Rapava-Ruskin, 2. Jack Singleton, 3. Afo Fasogbon, 4. Freddie Thomas, 5. Matias Alemanno, 6. Ruan Ackermann, 7. Lewis Ludlow (c), 8. Zach Mercer. Reps: 16. Seb Blake, 17. Mayco Vivas, 18. Kirill Gotovtsev, 19. Freddie Clarke, 20. Jack Clement, 21. Caolan Englefield, 22. Charlie Atkinson, 23. Seb Atkinson.
Saracens: 15. Elliot Daly, 14. Tobias Elliott, 13. Alex Lozowski, 12. Nick Tompkins, 11. Rotimi Segun, 10. Fergus Burke, 9. Ivan van Zyl, 1. Rhys Carre, 2. Theo Dan, 3. Marco Riccioni, 4. Maro Itoje (c), 5. Hugh Tizard, 6. Andy Onyeama-Christie, 7. Toby Knight, 8. Tom Willis. Reps: Jamie George, 17. Sam Crean, 18. Alec Clarey, 19. Harry Wilson, 20. Nick Isiekwe, 21. Ben Earl, 22. Charlie Bracken, 23. Alex Goode.
SUNDAY
Sale Sharks vs Harlequins (Salford Community Stadium, 3pm) – Live on TNT Sport 1 and UHD
Sale: 15. Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Waisea Nayacalevu, 12. Rob du Preez, 11. Tom O’Flaherty, 10. George Ford, 9. Gus Warr; 1. Bevan Rodd, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 4. Ernst van Rhyn, 5. Hyron Andrews, 6. Tom Curry, 7. Ben Curry (c), 8. Jean-Luc du Preez. Reps: 16. Ethan Caine, 17. Tumy Onasanya, 18. James Harper, 19. Josh Beaumont, 20. Ben Bamber, 21. Sam Dugdale, 22. Nye Thomas, 23. Will Addison.
Harlequins: 15. Leigh Halfpenny, 14. Nick David, 13. Luke Northmore, 12. Lennox Anyanwu, 11. Oscar Beard, 10. Jarrod Evans, 9. Will Porter, 1. Fin Baxter, 2. Jack Walker, 3. Titi Lamositele, 4. Irne Herbst, 5. Stephan Lewies, 6. Jack Kenningham, 7. Will Evans, 8. Alex Dombrandt (c). Reps: 16. Nathan Jibulu, 17. Jordan Els, 18. Simon Kerrod, 19. Joe Launchbury, 20. Dino Lamb, 21. Danny Care, 22. Marcus Smith, 23. Cassius Cleaves.
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its extremely good for English rugby that Opoku-Fordjour and Fasogbon are both starting.
An equally significant area of weakness for England though is at 12. Anyanwu and Butt both have the potential to impress, but we really need more options there. Hopefully Ojomoh, Hartley, and Seb Atkinson will have the chance to impress as the season progresses?