Gallagher PREM Rugby round 16 team news: Tom Curry and Raffi Quirke return for Sale Sharks, Northampton Saints ring changes

A surprise 41-17 victory over the Gallagher PREM league leaders has Tigers in third, eight points clear of fifth-placed Bristol Bears.

And a win at Sale would help cement their spot in the play-offs, with Saints and Bears going head-to-head on Friday evening, live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.

But as part of four changes to a struggling Sharks side, Tom Curry and Raffi Quirke return to face Leicester, who remain unchanged from their dominant win against the table-toppers.

Saints themselves have decided to shake up their starting XV, with no fewer than six changes, including Henry Pollock, Alex Coles and Archie McParland all coming into Phil Dowson's line-up.

A win at home against Bristol Bears will be no simple task, however, with the play-off-chasers five points behind fourth-placed Exeter Chiefs heading into round 16.

And Bears welcome back Louis Rees-Zammit, Harry Randall and James Williams, while Rich Lane is fit again and offered a starting berth at full-back.

Elsewhere, Chiefs have stuck with the same starting XV that defeated Bath 35-12 on Sunday, heading to Allianz Stadium in Twickenham to take on Harlequins for the Big Summer kick-off.

Quins, for their part, have made two changes, both in the forward pack, in the form of Zach Carr and Jack Kenningham's inclusions, while centre Luke Northmore is set to earn his 100th cap for the club.

Saracens bring in just one new face, Rhys Carre in the front row, and that is matched by their opponents Gloucester, who replace the injured Tomos Williams with Caolan Englefield.

Propping up the table, Newcastle Red Bulls make eight switches from their heavy defeat to Harlequins, and their hosts Bath will celebrate Charlie Ewels' 200th appearance for his boyhood club.

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 Elliot Millar Mills, 4 Alex Coles, 5 Ed Prowse, 6 Josh Kemeny, 7 Henry Pollock, 8 Callum Chick,

Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Luke Green, 19 JJ Van Der Mescht, 20 Tom Pearson, 21 Sam Graham, 22 Alex Mitchell, 23 Fraser Dingwall

Bristol Bears: 15 Rich Lane, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 James Williams, 11 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 10 Tom Jordan, 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 George Taylor, 20 Luka Ivanishvili, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Matias Moroni, 23 Noah Heward

Bath Rugby: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Henry Arundell, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer (c); 1 Beno Obano, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Thomas du Toit, 4 Ted Hill, 5 Charlie Ewels (200), 6 Josh Bayliss, 7 Guy Pepper, 8 Miles Reid

Replacements: 16 Dan Frost, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Vilikesa Sela, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Max Ojomoh, 23 Alfie Barbeary

Newcastle Red Bulls: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Harrison Obatoyinbo, 13 Rhys Beeckmans, 12 Sammy Arnold, 11 Alex Hearle, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Simon Benitez Cruz; 1 Connor Hancock, 2 George McGuigan (c), 3 Murray McCallum, 4 Freddie Clarke, 5 John Hawkins, 6 Adam Scott, 7 Tom Christie, 8 Fergus Lee-Warner.

Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Jamie Clark, 18 Adam Brocklebank, 19 Jamie Hodgson, 20 Amanaki Mafi, 21 James Elliott, 22 Ethan Grayson, 23 Christian Wade

Harlequins: 15 Jamie Benson, 14 Cameron Anderson, 13 Luke Northmore, 12 Bryn Bradley, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Lucas Friday; 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 Will Porter, 23 Rodrigo Isgro

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Olly Woodburn, 14 Paul Brown-Bampoe, 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 Christ Tshiunza, 8 Ross Vintcent

Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Ethan Burger, 18 Bachuki Tchumbadze, 19 Rusi Tuima, 20 Finn Worley Brady, 21 Tom Cairns, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso

Saracens: 15 Max Malins, 14 Noah Caluori, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Olly Hartley, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Charlie Bracken; 1 Rhys Carre, 2 Jamie George, 3 Marcus Street, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 5 Nick Isiekwe, 6 Theo McFarland, 7 Ben Earl, 8 Tom Willis

Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Hugh Tizard, 20 Nathan Michelow, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Tobias Elliott

Gloucester Rugby: 15 George Barton, 14 Will Joseph, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Seb Atkinson (c), 11 Ben Loader, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Caolan Englefield; 1 Val Rapava Ruskin, 2 Seb Blake, 3 Afo Fasogbon, 4 Arthur Clark, 5 Matias Alemanno, 6 Freddie Thomas, 7 James Venter, 8 Will Trenholm

Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Danny Eite, 20 Deian Gwynne, 21 Jack Clement, 22 Mikey Austin, 23 Josiah Edwards-Giraud

Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Luke James, 12 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford, 9 Raffi Quirke; 1 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Alfie Longstaff, 3 James Harper, 4 Ernst van Rhyn (c), 5 Ben Bamber, 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 7 Sam Dugdale, 8 Tom Curry

Replacements: 16 Wills Austin, 17 Ralph McEachran, 18 Patreece Bell, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Seb Kelly, 21 Gus Warr, 22 Ollie Davies, 23 Arron Reed

Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Will Wand, 12 Orlando Bailey, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 James O’Connor, 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 Olly Cracknell, 21 Hamish Watson, 22 Tom Whiteley, 23 Solomone Kata

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