Gallagher PREM Rugby round 17 team news: Penultimate round of matches with play-off spots, European places up for grabs

React to this story

The 2025/26 Gallagher PREM Rugby season is approaching an exciting climax and this weekend's round 17 sees all 10 teams participate in the penultimate round of fixtures.

Ashton pleads with Wade to cease chase for PREM try-scoring record - ‘Can we do a deal?’

Video credit: TNT Sports

The action begins on Friday at Ashton Gate with a West Country derby as the Bristol Bears host Bath Rugby.

Bristol are looking to restore some pride after conceding 94 points last time out to Northampton Saints and they are still in the hunt for a play-off spot.

Bath, meanwhile, are aiming to secure a home game in the play-offs, with their spot in the top four all but certain.

Rugby

PREM Rugby Cup 2026/27 to begin on TNT Sports

15/07/2026 at 09:25

The Bears welcome back AJ MacGinty at fly-half, with Noah Heward and Matias Moroni returning to the team.

Bath are without Finn Russell, with Ciaran Donoghue making his second start of the season at the No. 10 position.

Another local derby kicks off Saturday's action, with London rivals Saracens and Harlequins facing off at StoneX Stadium.

McIlroy outlines vision for Newcastle: We want to challenge for PREM within three years

Video credit: TNT Sports

Saracens, who sit just three points outside the play-off spots, make three changes to their starting XV, with Eroni Mawi, Hugh Tizard and Tobias Elliott all coming in.

Harlequins sit just a point outside the relegation positions, with Sean Kerr replacing Luke Northmore at outside centre as their only change.

Also on Saturday, table-topping Northampton Saints host Gloucester Rugby, and could secure first place and home advantage throughout the play-offs if results go their way this weekend.

They are largely unchanged from scoring nearly 100 points in their previous outing, with Rory Hutchinson set to become the 82nd player to reach 200 appearances for the Saints.

Gloucester will bring in Ciaran Knight to the front row with the team ninth in the table.

Saturday's final game sees bottom side Newcastle Red Bulls take on Sale Sharks.

Newcastle's spot in the relegation play-off has already been secured, so they will be playing for just their second win of the season. They make six changes to their team, including the return of Richard Palframan.

Sale have missed out on a play-off spot but could still qualify for next year's Investec Champions Cup, with a win this weekend going a long way to securing their position in European competition.

The Sharks make four changes to their team, including giving first PREM starts to Reuben Logan and Seb Kelly.

Quins trying to build 'new foundations' after 'tough year' - Murley

Video credit: TNT Sports

The final game of round 17 could have huge play-off ramifications as third-placed Leicester Tigers host fourth-placed Exeter Chiefs at Welford Road.

George Pearson replaces the injured Freddie Steward for Leicester, with Pearson starting his first PREM game for club.

The Chiefs, meanwhile, bring in Ethan Roots for the injured Ross Vintcent, while Zack Wimbush will make his league debut.

Exeter are three points ahead of Saracens and they welcome them to Sandy Park on the final day of the season.

With all the action live and available on TNT Sports and HBO Max, here are the full line-ups from the five games.

Bristol Bears v Bath Rugby line-ups

Bristol Bears: 15⁠ ⁠⁠Noah Heward, 14⁠ ⁠⁠Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 11 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Harry Randall; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Harry Thacker, 3 George Kloska, 4 James Dun, 5 Joe Batley, 6 Joe Owen, 7 Fitz Harding (c), 8 Santiago Grondona

Replacements: 16⁠ ⁠Tomas Gwilliam, 17 ⁠⁠Jake Woolmore, 18⁠ ⁠⁠Max Lahiff, 19 ⁠⁠Jimmy Halliwell, 20 ⁠⁠George Taylor, 21 ⁠⁠Kieran Marmion, 22⁠ ⁠⁠Tom Jordan, 23 ⁠⁠Jack Bates

Bath Rugby: 1 Beno Obano, 2 Kepueli Tuipulotu, 3 Thomas du Toit, 4 Ted Hill, 5. Charlie Ewels, 6 Ethan Staddon, 7 Guy Pepper, 8 Sam Underhill, 9 Ben Spencer, 10 Ciaran Donoghue, 11 Henry Arundell, 12 Max Ojomoh, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 15 Santi Carreras

Replacements: 16 Dan Frost, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Vilikesa Sela, 19 Ewan Richards, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Cameron Redpath, 23 Alfie Barbeary

Saracens v Harlequins line-ups

Saracens: 15 Max Malins, 14 Noah Caluori,13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Olly Hartley, 11 Tobias Elliott, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Charlie Bracken, 1 Eroni Mawi, 2 Jamie George, 3 Marcus Street, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 5 Hugh Tizard, 6 Nick Isiekwe, 7 Ben Earl, 8 Tom Willis

Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Rhys Carre, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Theo McFarland, 20 Nathan Michelow, 21 Ivan Van Zyl, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Jack Bracken

Harlequins: 15 Jamie Benson, 14 Cameron Anderson, 13 Sean Kerr, 12 Bryn Bradley, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Will Porter, 1 Will Hobson, 2 Sam Riley, 3 Pedro Delgado, 4 Zach Carr, 5 Elliot Williams, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 7 Jack Kenningham, 8 Alex Dombrandt (c)

Replacements: 16 Jack Musk, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Ollie Streeter, 19 Jonny Green, 20 Seb Driscoll, 21 Will Evans, 22 Stu Townsend, 23 Cassius Cleaves

Northampton Saints v Gloucester Rugby line-ups

Northampton Saints: 15 George Furbank (c), 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Tom Litchfield, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 George Hendy, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Archie McParland, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun, 2 Robbie Smith, 3 Luke Green, 4 Alex Coles, 5 Ed Prowse, 6 Tom Pearson, 7 Henry Pollock, 8 Callum Chick

Replacements: 16 Craig Wright, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Tom Lockett, 20 Sam Graham, 21 Jonny Weimann, 22 Fraser Dingwall, 23 James Ramm

Gloucester Rugby: 15 Ben Redshaw, 14 Ollie Thorley, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Seb Atkinson (c), 11 Ben Loader, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Caolan Englefield, 1 Ciaran Knight, 2 Seb Blake, 3 Afo Fasogbon, 4 Arthur Clark (VC), 5 Freddie Thomas, 6 Deian Gwynne, 7 Jame Venter, 8 Will Trenholm

Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Mikey Austin, 22 Will Knight, 23 Josiah Edwards-Giraud

Newcastle Red Bulls v Sale Sharks line-ups

Newcastle Red Bulls: 15 Ethan Grayson, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Sammy Arnold, 11 Harrison Obatoyinbo, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz; 1 Connor Hancock, 2 George McGuigan (c), 3 Richard Palframan, 4 Jamie Hodgson, 5 Adam Scott, 6 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 7 Tom Christie, 8 Amanaki Mafi.

Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Jamie Clark, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Tim Cardall, 20 Freddie Lockwood, 21 James Elliott, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Cameron Hutchison.

Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Luke James, 12 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11 Arron Reed, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr; 1 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Alfie Longstaff, 3 James Harper, 4 Ernst van Rhyn (c), 5 Ben Bamber, 6 Sam Dugdale, 7 Seb Kelly, 8 Reuben Logan.

Replacements: 16 Wills Austin, 17 Ralph McEachran, 18 Patreece Bell, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Tristan Woodman, 21 Raffi Quirke, 22 Ollie Davies, 23 Tom O’Flaherty.

Leicester Tigers v Exeter Chiefs line-ups

Leicester Tigers: 15 George Pearson, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Will Wand, 12 Orlando Bailey, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Charlie Titcombe, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 1 Nicky Smith, 2 Jamie Blamire, 3 Joe Heyes, 4 George Martin, 5 Ollie Chessum (c), 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Tommy Reffell, 8 Joaquin Moro

Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Archie van der Flier, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Cameron Henderson, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Olly Cracknell, 22 Tom Whiteley, 23 Solomone Kata

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Olly Woodburn, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Campbell Ridl, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Stephen Varney, 1 Scott Sio, 2 Max Norey, 3 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 5 Andrea Zambonin, 6 Tom Hooper, 7 Ethan Roots, 8 Greg Fisilau

Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Ethan Burger, 18 Bachuki Tchumbadze, 19 Rusi Tuima, 20 Christ Tshiunza, 21 Tom Cairns, 22 Zack Wimbush, 23 Paul Brown-Bampoe

Add TNT Sports as a preferred source here to enjoy more content like this.

Watch and stream the Gallagher PREM and Premiership Women's Rugby live on TNT Sports and HBO Max

PREM