Round 8 once again sees only four fixtures, with games that Worcester and Wasps would otherwise have been playing cancelled, but there is still plenty to look forward to on Friday and Saturday.
It all gets underway with a Westcountry derby on Friday night, with Chiefs looking to bounce back from a narrow defeat to Saracens and Gloucester chasing a fourth straight win, having won their previous three by four points or less.
There’s another derby on Saturday as Harlequins host fellow South-West Londoners Irish, while Northampton take on Bristol in a critical game for both to get their seasons back on track.
Gloucester vs Exeter, Friday 7:45pm (BT Sport 1 & BT Sport Ultimate)
Gloucester have made an excellent start to the season, and head into this game on the back of three game winning run that has seen them edge out Bath, Bristol Bears and London Irish.
None have been convincing wins, they clung on for victory at Bath, needed a very late Adam Hastings penalty to edge out Bristol, and the same player struck a magnificent long-ranged drop-kick to win in Brentford.
To try and make it four they have made as many changes, with Harry Erlington coming in for Val Rapava-Ruskin, who is away with England.
Elsewhere in the forwards Cam Jordan features in the second row and Ben Morgan comes in at number eight, while in the backs Santi Carreras moves out to the wing and Lloyd Evans comes in at full-back.
On Exeter’s loosehead side they have debutant Scott Sio in, perhaps the most exciting overseas player to make his bow so far in the Premiership season.
His inclusion goes some way to balancing the loss of three internationals, as Jack Yeandle replaces Luke Cowan-Dickie at hooker, Rory O’Loughlin comes in for Henry Slade and Josh Hodge starts in place of Jack Nowell.
Lewis Pearson comes in on the openside, rounding off five changes for Exeter as they look to get their campaign back on track.
Exeter’s only defeats have come to the top two sides in the league, Saracens and Sale, but defeat to third placed-Gloucester will surely have them questioning their own top four hopes.
Gloucester: Evans, Rees-Zammit, Harris, Kveseladze, Carreras; Hastings, Chapman; Elrington, Socino, Balmain, Clarke, Jordan, Ackermann, Ludlow (capt), Morgan
Replacements: Walker, Knight, Gotovtsev, Alemanno, Tuisue, Meehan, Reeves, Seabrook
Exeter: Hogg, Hodge, O’Loughlin, Whitten, Woodburn, Skinner, J Maunder; Sio, Yeandle (capt), Williams, Van Heerden, Gray, Ewers, Pearson, Vermeulen
Replacements: Innard, Hepburn, Iosefa-Scott, Dunne, Tshiunza, S Maunder, Simmonds, John
Referee: Adam Leal
Harlequins vs London Irish, Saturday 3:00pm (BT Sport 1 & BT Sport Ultimate)
For Harlequins, the absence of Marcus Smith and Cadan Murley sees Tommy Allan come in at fly-half and the debut of former Wasps Josh Bassett on the wing respectively.
Nick David moves into the vacant spot left by Allan at full-back, while Joe Marchant shifts to the wing and Lennox Anwanyu makes his first Premiership start at outside centre.
In the forward pack, Alex Dombrandt makes his 100th Quins appearance at number eight, while George Hammond comes in for the injured Dino Lamb.
Irish have changed three-fifths of their team as they look to arrest their losing run which has seen them slip to the foot of the table.
Though their home form has been solid, and they have excelled in the midweek Premiership Rugby Cup, their away form in the league has been less impressive, losing every game and conceding 37 points or more.
Against one of the most attacking teams in the league, they have brought in five new forwards in each row of the scrum. Will Goodrick-Clarke and Mike Willemse come in at loosehead and hooker, while Chunya Munga features in the second row.
There are two new flankers in the form of Josh Basham and Ben Donnell, while Caolan Englefield comes in for Ben White at scrum-half and Luca Morisi swaps in for Lucio Cinti.
There is a big loss at full-back as Henry Arundell misses out with injury, with Tom Parton coming in, but Irish will be boosted by the fact they were one of the few teams to beat Quins at The Stoop last season.
Harlequins: David, Marchant, Anwanyu, Esterhuizen, Bassett, Allan, Care; Marler, Musk, Louw, Hammond, Herbst, Kenningham, Evans, Dombrandt
Replacements: Head, Baxter, Kerrod, Matthews, White, Gjaltelma, Edwards, Beard
Irish: Parton, Loader, Morisi, van Rensburg, Hassell-Collins, Jackson, Englefield; Goodrick-Clarke, Willemse, Chawatama, Munga, Simmons, Basham, Donnell, Fa’aso’o
Replacements: Creevy, Gigena, Hoskins, Ratuniyarawa, Gonzalez, Powell, Cinti, Stokes
Northampton Saints vs Bristol Bears, Saturday 3pm (Premiership Rugby TV)
Three defeats in a row have put Bristol’s season in danger of returning to the disappointment of the last campaign.
They have recorded just one victory on the road in the last 12 months, and have made half-a-dozen changes to get their season back on track.
An all-new front row sees Jake Woolmore, Harry Thacker and Max Lahiff come in, while at scrum half there’s a start for Andy Uren.
Meanwhile there are two new flankers as Sam Lewis makes his first start of the season at flanker and Magnus Bradbury is on the blindside.
For Saints, Fin Smith makes his long-awaited debut at fly-half, one of eight changes to a side that sits fourth, but has had the benefit of being one of only two teams that has played seven games so far this campaign.
Like Bristol they have some bouncing back of their own to do, having lost last week to Bath, and George Hendy earns his first Premiership start at full-back.
Matt Proctor moves onto the right wing to make room for returning Rory Hutchinson at centre, while Ollie Sleightholme is on the opposite side.
At loosehead and hooker, Emmanuel Iyogun and Mike Haywood feature while Alex Moon comes in at second row and there are a pair of new flankers with Sam Graham and Aaron Hinkley both starting the match.
Northampton: Hendy, Proctor, Dingwall, Hutchinson, Sleightholme, Smith, Mitchell; Iyogun, Haywood, Hill, Salakaia-Loto, Moon, Graham, Hinkley, Augustus
Replacements: Matavesi, Waller, Petch, Nansen, Scott-Young, James, Grayson, Collins
Bristol: Piutau, Morahan, O’Conor, Bedlow, Purdy, Sheedy, Uren, Woolmore, Thacker, Lahiff, Batley, Joyce, Bradbury, Lewis, Harding
Replacements: Capon, Thomas, Tyack, Vui, Heenan, Porter, MacGinty, Bates
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