Round Nine of the Premiership provides extra festive cheer as five games are on the schedule, with Bath v Saracens and Harlequins v Leicester Tigers on Saturday.
England star Marcus Smith will face off against Springboks stalwart Handre Pollard in Big Game 16, which takes place at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham this weekend. Former Harlequins player Mike Brown starts for Leicester Tigers as he faces his old team.
Elsewhere, Bristol Bears and Sale Sharks kick off the round on Friday while Northampton Saints tackle Newcastle Falcons on Saturday, with Exeter v Gloucester on Sunday.
Check on all the Premiership team news, here.
Friday
Bristol Bears v Sale Sharks
Bristol Bears: 15 Rich Lane, 14 Jack Bates, 13 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 12 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 Sam Worsley, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Fitz Harding (c), 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Joe Owen, 4 James Dun, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Gabriel Oghre, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 George Kloska, 19 Jamie Hodgson, 20 Ben Grondona, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 James Williams, 23 Benjamin Elizalde
Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Rob du Preez, 12 Luke James, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford, 9 Raffi Quirke, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Ben Curry (c), 6 Tom Curry, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Ernst van Rhyn, 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Ethan Caine, 17 Si McIntyre, 18 WillGriff John, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 JL du Preez, 21 Gus Warr, 22 Sam Bedlow, 23 Sam Dugdale
Venue: Ashton Gate
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Adam Leal
Assistant Referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Calum Howard
TMO: Dean Richards
Saturday
Bath v Saracens
Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Will Muir, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer (c), 8 Alfie Barbeary, 7 Guy Pepper, 6 Ted Hill, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Sam Underhill, 21, Louis Schreuder, 22 Max Ojomoh, 23 Miles Reid
Saracens: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Tobias Elliott, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Olly Hartley, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Gareth Simpson, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Toby Knight, 6 Theo McFarland, 5 Nick Isiekwe, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Jamie George, 1 Phil Brantingham
Replacements: 16 Kapeli Pifeleti, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Harry Wilson, 20 Nathan Michelow, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Sam Spink, 23 Angus Hall
Venue: The Rec
Kick-off: 12:45 GMT
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant Referees: Harry Walbaum, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Peter Allan
Northampton Saints v Newcastle Falcons
Northampton Saints: 15 George Hendy, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Tom Litchfield, 12 Fraser Dingwall (c), 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Henry Pollock, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Josh Kemeny, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Chunya Munga, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Henry Walker, 1 Tom West
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Luke Green, 19 Temo Mayanavanua, 20 Angus Scott-Young, 21 Iakopo Mapu, 22 Archie McParland, 23 Rory Hutchinson
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Ben Redshaw, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Connor Doherty, 11 Ben Stevenson, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart, 8 Callum Chick (c), 7 Tom Gordon, 6 Freddie Lockwood, 5 Kiran McDonald, 4 Sebastian de Chaves, 3 Richard Palframan, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Murray McCallum
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Micky Rewcastle, 18 Callum Hancock, 19 John Hawkins, 20 Philip van der Walt, 21 Hugh O’Sullivan, 22 Kieran Wilkinson, 23 Oli Spencer
Venue: cinch Stadium @ Franklin’s Gardens
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant Referees: Hamish Smales, Wayne Falla
TMO: Dean Richards
Harlequins v Leicester Tigers
Harlequins: 15 Nick David, 14 Rodrigo Isgro, 13 Oscar Beard, 12 Luke Northmore, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Alex Dombrandt (c), 7 Jack Kenningham, 6 James Chisholm, 5 Dino Lamb, 4 Irne Herbst, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Fin Baxter
Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Joe Lauchbury, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Will Evans, 22 Will Porter, 23 Jarrod Evans
Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Mike Brown, 13 Dan Kelly, 12 Solomone Kata, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Olly Cracknell, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 George Martin, 4 Cameron Henderson, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Julián Montoya (c), 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 James Whitcombe, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Jed Holloway, 20 Emeka Ilione, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Jamie Shillcock, 23 Joseph Woodward
Venue: Allianz Stadium
Kick-off: 18:00 GMT
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant Referees: Craig Maxwell-Keys, Greg MacDonald
TMO: Andrew Jackson
Sunday
Exeter Chiefs v Gloucester
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Ben Hammersley, 12 Tamati Tua, 11 Tommy Wyatt, 10 Henry Slade, 9 Stu Townsend, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Richard Capstick, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 3 Marcus Street, 2 Dan Frost, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 Will Goodrick-Clarke, 18 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Ross Vintcent, 21 Tom Cairns, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Zack Wimbush
Gloucester: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Josh Hathaway, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Jack Clement, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Thomas, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Seb Blake, 1 Mayco Vivas
Replacements: 16 Jack Singleton, 17 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Albert Tuisue, 21 Caolan Englefield, 22 Chris Harris, 23 George Barton
Venue: Sandy Park
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant Referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Gareth Holsgrove
TMO: David Rose
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/premiership-team-news-marcus-smith-and-handre-pollard-collide-in-big-game-16-as-england-legend-faces-former-club
