Preview: Premiership, Round Seven

Rob Baxter's side were on the wrong end of a 42-10 result at French giants Clermont but play in their first ever Boxing Day clash, having lost just one of their last eight encounters in the competition. Exeter have undeniably been one of the sides to beat in the league this season, and the second-placed outfit have lost just once in all competitions at Sandy Park since September 2014.

However Atkins knows his side may be under some pressure in front of an expectant crowd against a tricky Sale side.

"It is a big game for us this weekend. The boys are looking to bounce back after a bit of a loss over in Clermont. It will be a great atmosphere here. It is pretty much sold out from what I hear, so we'll look to put in a good performance and get back to the fortress that is Sandy Park.

"We absolutely want to finish on a high at home. Rob has always said that we build at home and what we do here is incredibly important. We want to keep our good record going and add to it when we play.

"Sale have got a really good set-piece and they like to spoil your clean set-piece. We're going to have to be on our game to put in a good performance and set a platform for the backs. Hopefully they can then attack and find some opportunities," he said.

Each side won its respective home game when the two clubs met last season but Sale's only previous win at Sandy Park came in April 2014. Given the magnitude of the task that lies ahead, Sharks hooker Neil Briggs insists Christmas has been put on hold for Steve Diamond's side.

"We've already spoken as a group and our Christmas starts after the Wasps game. We've got a week away from the league on the weekend of January 8 as our scheduled game with Bath has been cancelled so our Christmas and New Year comes after the Wasps game.

"So as a squad we've said let's knuckle down and let's do the hard work now. Obviously there's a bit of a sacrifice involved with the family but they know that rugby comes first but after these two big games, it will be time to spend with the family.

"What's important for us now is do well, as we know if we do that we can be up near the top four. We are playing teams which are just above so it could be an eight point swing," Briggs said.

We look at this weekend's action!

Saturday, December 26

London Irish v Northampton Saints

(Madejski Stadium – Kick-off: 14.30 GMT)

Northampton have won their last six fixtures against London Irish in all competitions since the Exiles' 39-17 victory at Madejski Stadium in October 2012. Saints have won their last two encounters, at home to Gloucester and at Bath, but have scored just one try in their last four matches in all competitions.

Teams:

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 Nic Rouse, 4 Matt Symons (captain), 3 Ben Franks, 2 David Paice, 1 Tom Court.

Replacements:  16 Jimmy Stevens, 17 Tom Smallbone, 18 Halani Aulika, 19 Joe Trayfoot, 20 Jebb Sinclair, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Shane Geraghty, 23 Fergus Mulchrone.

Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 George North, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Christian Day, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Paul Hill, Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Ethan Waller.

Replacements: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Victor Matfield, 20 Sam Dickinson, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Tom Collins.

Referee: Ian Tempest

Assistant referees: Ashley Rowden, Gareth Copsey

TMO: David Sainsbury

Leicester Tigers v Newcastle Falcons

(Welford Road – Kick-off: 15.00 GMT)

Newcastle Falcons are without a victory this season, although they drew 15-all at Sale in Round Five and have won both of their home games in Europe. The Falcons have not been victorious on the road in any tournament since their trip to London Irish in February. Leicester have won their last 10 encounters with Newcastle since the Falcons' 14-10 victory at Kingston Park in March 2009.

Teams:

Leicester Tigers: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Telusa Veainu, 13 Peter Betham, 12 Matt Smith, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Jono Kitto, 8 Laurence Pearce, 7 Lachlan McCaffrey, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Ed Slater (captain), 4 Dom Barrow, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Logovi'i Mulipola.

Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Sebastian De Chaves, 20 Opeti Fonua, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Seremaia Bai.

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Alex Tait, 13 Belisario Agulla, 12 Chris Harris, 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 Taione Vea, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 Todd Clever, 21 Sonatane Takulua, 22 Tom Catterick, 23 Juan Pablo Socino.

Referee: Tim Wigglesworth

Assistant referees: Darren Gamage, Kelvin Stewart

TMO: Rowan Kitt

Exeter Chiefs v Sale Sharks

(Sandy Park – Kick-off: 15.00 GMT)

Sale Sharks' only loss in their last five matches in all tournaments was 19-23 at Gloucester in Round Six. The Sharks won their most recent away game at Castres on December 12 but have not been victorious on the road since beating London Welsh in February. Each side won its respective home game when the two clubs met last season, whilst the Sharks' only previous win at Sandy Park was 55-12 in April 2014.

Teams:

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Sam Hill, 11 James Short, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Will Chudley, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Julian Salvi, 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 Tom Johnson, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Will Hooley, 23 Michele Campanaro.

Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Tom Arscott, 13 Sam James, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Will Addison, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 TJ Ioane, 6 Dan Braid (captain), 5 Bryn Evans, 4 Jonathan Mills, 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 Chris Cusiter, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Mark Jennings.

Referee: Dean Richards

Assistant referees: Luke Pearce, Andrew Pearce

TMO: Geoff Warren

Sunday, December 27

Wasps v Saracens

(Ricoh Arena – Kick-off: 14.00 GMT)

Saracens perfect start to the new campaign continued with back-to-back victories over Oyonnax in the Champions Cup over the last two weekends. The last side to beat Sarries was Exeter at Allianz Park. Sarries have won their last eight fixtures with Wasps in all competitions since Wasps' 20-15 victory in the London double header in September 2011. Saracens have visited the Ricoh Arena just twice before, beating Wasps there in March 2015 but losing the European Cup semi-final to Munster in 2008.

Teams:

Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Frank Halai, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Alapati Leiua, 11 Charles Piutau, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Guy Thompson, 7 Thomas Young, 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 Bradley Davies, 20 Sam Jones, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Sailosi Tagicakibau.

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

Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Jim Hamilton, 20 Kelly Brown, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Charlie Hodgson, 23 Marcelo Bosch.

Referee: JP Doyle

Assistant referees: Simon McConnell, Roger Baileff

TMO: Trevor Fisher

Bath v Worcester Warriors

(Recreation Ground – Kick-off: 14.30 GMT)

Worcester Warriors have lost their last five matches in all competitions since beating La Rochelle at Sixways in the Challenge Cup on November 14. The Warriors' only victory on the road in since New Year's day 2012, came when they visited Newcastle in March 2014. Bath have won their last five encounters with Worcester since the Warriors' 16-7 victory at Sixways in November 2011. Worcester have lost on all 10 occasions they have visited the Recreation Ground in all competitions.

Teams:

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

Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 David Wilson, 19 Dave Attwood, 20 Francois Louw, 21 Niko Matawalu, 22 George Ford, 23 Anthony Watson.

Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Jonny Arr, 8 Phil Dowson (captain), 7 Sam Betty, 6 Matt Cox, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Tevita Cavubati, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Na'ama Leleimalefaga.

Replacements: 16 Ben Sowrey, 17 Val Rapava Ruskin, 18 Joe Rees, 19 Donncha O'Callaghan, 20 Marco Mama, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 Andy Symons, 23 Tom Biggs.

Referee: Tom Foley

Assistant referees: Paul Dix, Craig Maxwell-Keys

TMO: Stuart Terheege

Harlequins v Gloucester

(Twickenham – Kick-off: 16.30 GMT)

The Cherry and Whites have lost on their last five visits to Twickenham since beating Northampton there in April 2003. Gloucester have lost just one of their last six encounters in all competitions. Harlequins recorded a double over Gloucester last season, something that they had not achieved since 1998-99.

Teams:

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 George Lowe, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care (captain), 8 Nick Easter, 7 Jack Clifford, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 Charlie Matthews, 4 James Horwill, 3 Will Collier, 2 Dave Ward, 1 Joe Marler.

Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 George Merrick, 20 Luke Wallace, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Ben Botica, 23 Ross Chisholm.

Gloucester: 15 Rob Cook, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Billy Meakes, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Jonny May, 10 James Hook, 9 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Mariano Galarza, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 John Afoa, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paddy McAllister.

Replacements:16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Dan Murphy, 18 Paul Doran-Jones, 19 Tom Savage, 20 Jacob Rowan, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Billy Burns, 23 Henry Trinder.

Referee: Wayne Barnes

Assistant referees: Greg Garner, Wayne Falla

TMO: Graham Hughes