It’s the first round of the Aviva Premiership where we get to see the stars who assisted England to their first Six Nations Grand Slam since 2003, along with the international stars of the other respected nations.
After signing up to another contract, which pundit Austin Healey believed was to cover a recent hair transplant, Andy Goode will retire again as he makes his last rugby appearance.
The Newcastle Falcons host in-form Wasps at Kingston Park in the heart of Tyneside.
Grand Slam winners Joe Simpson and Elliot Daly will play for Wasps this weekend. Simpson’s resilience and aggression will be key and Wasps have missed the ability for someone to score kicks from the halfway line. This is where Daly enters the picture.
George Smith and Josh Bassett also return to the Wasps squad. Charles Piutau will be absent due to a hamstring injury.
The Falcons are in a bit of a dip of form, Dean Richard’s side have lost their past four matches and haven’t won in the league since beating Northampton Saints in Round 12.
Wasps will prove to be a threat to the Falcons, the Coventry-based side has only lost once in their last nine fixtures in all competitions.
They have also failed to lose successive away games since the beginning of the 2015/16 season.
Newcastle haven’t beaten Wasps since May 2012 when they won at Adams Park, but the Falcons were relegated that season and were confirmed so after winning that match. Wasps are unbeaten in their last five fixtures with the Falcons.
Retiring Andy Goode will start on the replacement’s bench for tomorrow’s match, as his short-term contract up north will expire.
Another accolade for the Newcastle squad is that Michael Young will make his 100th appearance for the Falcons.
Wasps won the home tie 9-8, hopefully, this fixture will present more points and action.
JP Doyle will referee his 110th Aviva Premiership fixture, the match will kick-off at 3pm.
Teams
Newcastle Falcons
15 Simon Hammersley , 14 Alex Tait , 13 Chris Harris , 12 Adam Powell , 11 Marcus Watson , 10 Mike Delany , 9 Michael Young , , 1 Rob Vickers , 2 George McGuigan , 3 Taione Vea , 4 Calum Green , 5 Sean Robinson , 6 Mark Wilson , 7 Will Welch (captain) , 8 Nili Latu
Replacements:
16 Scott Lawson , 17 Alex Rogers , 18 Mike Cusack , 19 Ally Hogg , 20 Sinoti Sinoti , 21 Sonatane Takulua , 22 Andy Goode , 23 Belisario Agulla
Wasps
15. Rob Miller , 14. Christian Wade , 13. Elliot Daly , 12. Siale Piutau , 11. Josh Bassett , 10. Jimmy Gopperth , 9. Dan Robson , 1. Matt Mullan © , 2. Ashley Johnson , 3. Jake Cooper-Woolley , 4. Joe Launchbury , 5. Kearnan Myall , 6. Thomas Young , 7. George Smith , 8. Sam Jones
Replacements:
16. Carlo Festuccia , 17. Simon McIntyre , 18. Phil Swainston , 19. James Cannon , 20. Nathan Hughes , 21. Craig Hampson , 22. Ruaridh Jackson , 23. Brendan Macken
