Preview: Premiership, Round Eight

Although the Midlanders are without a win in their last three games, Jim Mallinder's side are always a tough nut to crack on home soil and Exeter scrumhalf Will Chudley is expecting a backlash of sorts following their surprise loss at London Irish last time out.

"Going up there is very much like Sandy Park," said the scrumhalf. "It's always a great atmosphere, they have very passionate supporters and they have a great team. We know it's going to be tough going there, it always is, but the fact that they lost last week will just add to things.

"Saints are a massive threat, like a lot of teams in the division, so we need to be on song if we are to get anything at their place."

Rob Baxter's side, however, will travel in good heart for their first game of 2016, particularly as they've lost only once in the league this season.

With six victories from seven starts, the Chiefs sit just two points behind defending champions Saracens at the top of the table.

Exeter's latest success came last Saturday when Chudley himself scored two tries in their 33-17 victory over Sale Sharks at Sandy Park.

The 27-year-old back has been in scintillating form this season and is hopeful his club can not only maintain their rich vein of form at Franklin's Gardens, but also replicate their showing at the same venue last season when they won for the first time there 24-18.

"Saturday was a good win for us," added Chudley. "We knew what Sale would bring to the game and we knew we had to match their intensity and their physicality, which is what we did. Games against Sale are never easy and sometimes it can take 60 or 70 minutes to break them down, but we got there in the end."

The win ensured the Chiefs concluded 2015 at Sandy Park with just one blot on their home copybook – that coming against Gloucester back in January – and Chudley says having such a solid base at home is key to the club's ultimate success.

"We pride ourselves on what we do at home we want to make it hard for teams to come here," continued the former Bedford and Newcastle Falcons back. "We've done it a lot this year, but now we want to take it on the road as well.

"As a club it's exciting times for us, we're still in both competitions still and we have two big European games coming up. First, though, we have two equally big Premiership games to worry about, so we'll take it each game as it comes."

All of the weekend's match details:

Friday, January 1

Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs

(Franklin's Gardens – Kick-off: 15.00)

Teams:

Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden (captain), 14 Tom Collins, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 George North, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Sam Dickinson, 7 Teimana Harrison, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Alex Waller.

Replacements: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Christian Day, 20 Michael Paterson, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Harry Mallinder.

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Will Chudley, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Tom Johnson, 6 Don Armand, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Mitch Lees, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Jack Yeandle (captain), 1 Ben Moon.

Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Carl Rimmer, 18 Moray Low, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Ben White, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Will Hooley, 23 James Short.

Referee: JP Doyle

Assistant referees: Craig Maxwell-Keys, Gareth Copsey

TMO: Stuart Terheege

Saturday, January 2

Gloucester v London Irish

(Kingsholm – Kick-off: 15.00)

Teams:

Gloucester: 15 Rob Cook, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Bill Meakes, 12 Billy Twelvetrees (captain), 11 Henry Purdy, 10 James Hook, 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Ross Moriarty, 5 Jeremy Thrush, 4 Tom Savage, 3 Nicky Thomas, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Nick Wood.

Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Dan Murphy, 18 Paddy McAllister, 19 Ben Morgan, 20 Jacob Rowan, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Billy Burns, 23 Mark Atkinson.

London Irish: 15 Sean Maitland, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Aseli Tikoirotuma, 10 Chris Noakes, 9 Brendan McKibbin, 8 Ofisa Treviranus, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Luke Narraway, 5 Will Lloyd, 4 Matt Symons (captain), 3 Ben Franks, 2 David Paice, 1 Tom Court.

Replacements: 16 Gerard Ellis, 17 Tom Smallbone, 18 Halani Aulika, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Joe Trayfoot, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Shane Geraghty, 23 Topsy Ojo.

Referee: Thomas Foley

Assistant referees: Kelvin Stewart, Jonathan Healy

TMO: David Sainsbury

Newcastle Falcons v Bath

(Kingston Park – Kick-off: 15.00)

Teams:

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Alex Tait, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Craig Willis, 9 Michael Young, 8 Nili Latu, 7 Will Welch (captain), 6 Ally Hogg, 5 Sean Robinson, 4 Mark Wilson, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Rob Vickers.

Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Alex Rogers, 18 Paddy Ryan, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 Todd Clever, 21 Sonatane Takulua, 22 Tom Catterick, 23 Belisario Agulla.

Bath: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Niko Matawalu, 8 David Denton, 7 Guy Mercer (captain), 6 Leroy Houston, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Matt Garvey, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Ross Batty, 1 Nick Auterac.

Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 David Wilson, 19 Dominic Day, 20 Francois Louw, 21 Jonathan Evans, 22 George Ford, 23 Anthony Watson.

Referee: Matthew Carley

Assistant referees: Wayne Falla, John Meredith

TMO: Sean Davey

Saracens v Leicester Tigers

(Allianz Park – Kick-off: 15.15)

Teams:

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Brad Barritt (captain), 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Will Fraser, 6 Michael Rhodes, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Mako Vunipola.

Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Titi Lamositele, 19 Jim Hamilton, 20 Jackson Wray, 21 Neil De Kock, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Duncan Taylor.

Leicester Tigers: 15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Seremaia Bai, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Sam Harrison, 8 Laurence Pearce, 7 Tom Croft, 6 Ed Slater (captain), 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Dom Barrow, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Marcos Ayerza.

Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Logovi'i Mulipola, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Mike Fitzgerald, 20 Lachlan McCaffrey, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Adam Thompstone.

Referee: Gregory Garner

Assistant referees: Paul Dix, Peter Huckle

TMO: Graham Hughes

Sale Sharks v Wasps

(AJ Bell Stadium – Kick-off: 17.30)

Teams:

Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Tom Arscott, 13 Sam James, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Will Addison, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 David Seymour, 6 Dan Braid (captain), 5 Jonathan Mills, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Ross Harrison.

Replacements: 16 Cameron Neild, 17 Eifion Lewis-Roberts, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 Andrei Ostrikov, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Mark Jennings.

Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Frank Halai, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Ben Jacobs, 11 Charles Piutau, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Sam Jones, 7 George Smith, 6 James Haskell (captain), 5 James Gaskell, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Ashley Johnson, 1 Matt Mullan.

Replacements: 16 Edd Shervington, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Thomas Young, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Sailosi Tagicakibau.

Referee: Luke Pearce

Assistant referees: Peter Allan, Greg Macdonald

TMO: Trevor Fisher

Sunday, January 3

Worcester Warriors v Harlequins

(Sixways – Kick-off: 15.00)

Teams:

Worcester Warriors: TBC

Harlequins: TBC

Referee: Andrew Small

Assistant referees: Paul Burton, Nigel Carrick

TMO: Geoffrey Warren