Premiership Immortals - The Debate Show
Aug 29A thrilling year of Gallagher Premiership rugby comes to a close this weekend with three gargantuan heavyweight tussles as the race for the play-offs hots up.
Title challengers Sale and Leicester get Round 14 under way on Friday night before rivals Saracens and Exeter lock horns a day later in the final game of 2022.
The new year starts with a bang as 2014 winners Northampton host 2021 champions Harlequins in a battle royale between two of the most entertaining teams in the league.
Read on for all you need to know on every game, live stream information and TV channel times.
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Friday 30 December
Sale Sharks vs Leicester Tigers - 7pm (7.45pm KO), BT Sport 1 HD & BT Sport Ultimate
Watch live stream from 7pm
Second plays fourth in the opening game of Round 14 as reigning champions Leicester Tigers head to title contenders Sale Sharks.
Champions Leicester kicked-off the post-Steve Borthwick era with a morale-boosting win.
Having lost Borthwick and defence coach Kevin Sinfield earlier in the week, the East Midlands giants got a much-needed win on home turf to prove they remain a genuine force.
England winger Anthony Watson crossed for two tries as Leicester over-turned a half-time deficit to beat Gloucester and hand Richard Wigglesworth a first win as interim head coach.
Now the holders face a test of their title credentials away at high-flying Sale.
The Sharks remain second in the table, 10 points behind pacesetters Saracens, despite last weekend's shock defeat to lowly Newcastle.
The surprise loss on Tyneside means Alex Sanderson's men missed the opportunity to make up ground on league leaders Saracens and failed to put distance between them and their play-off rivals.
Harlequins are hot on their heels in third, while their Friday-night opponents Leicester could join Sale on 33 points with a bonus-point win in Lancashire.
Fans at the AJ Bell can look forward to a mouth-watering battle of the South African number 10s as World Cup winner Handre Pollard makes his Leicester debut opposite compatriot Rob du Preez.
Meanwhile Sale are bolstered by the return of Manu Tuilagi, who starts against his former side.
Saturday 31 December
Saracens vs Exeter Chiefs - 2pm (3pm KO), BT Sport 1 HD & BT Sport Ultimate
Watch live stream from 2pm
Round 14 continues with a New Year's Eve cracker as two teams with six Premiership titles between them slug it out at the StoneX Stadium.
Saracens's undefeated start to the season came to end at London Irish last weekend and Mark McCall's men will be desperate to get their quest for a fifth league crown back on track at home to familiar foes Exeter.
At least one of Saracens or Exeter have made it to the last nine Premiership finals at Twickenham, with the two sides contesting the Twickenham showpiece three times between 2016 and 2019.
Last season saw Exeter's proud run of six straight final appearances come to an end as Saracens lost out to eventual champions Leicester.
Now two of the most successful English sides from the last decade go toe-to-toe once again with one eye on the game's biggest prize.
Hosts Saracens will be looking to bounce back from a first league defeat since last season's final, while Exeter will be hoping to keep in touch with the play-off pack as the road to Twickenham continues.
The Londoners have not tasted defeat at home since January this year, a run that includes 12 consecutive win at the StoneX, while Exeter's last triumph at Saracens was all the way back in 2017.
Bath vs Newcastle Falcons - 3pm kick-off
The second of three games on New Year's Eve sees bottom-of-the-table Bath entertain fellow strugglers Newcastle Falcons at The Rec.
Having put together a three-game winning streak from Round 7, rock-bottom Bath have now lost back-to-back games in the league, although those defeats have come at the hands of play-off hopefuls Harlequins and Exeter.
The West Country giants are making waves off the pitch, agreeing a deal for Scotland fly-half Finn Russell to cap off an impressive spending spree that has also seen Alfie Barbeary, Ollie Lawrence and Ted Hill arrive at The Rec.
Elsewhere Ben Spencer, Will Stuart and Sam Underhill have all committed their long-term futures to Bath, raising hopes that the famous old club are ready to turn a corner.
However Bath remain a work in progress on the pitch, where they have won only won three of their opening 10 Premiership outings to leave them two points adrift of local rivals Bristol at the bottom of the pile.
Meanwhile Saturday's visitors Newcastle head to Bath on the back of an impressive triumph over high-flying Sale.
Dave Walder's Falcons completed a thrilling second-half comeback to beat second-placed Sale 20-14 at Kingston Park.
Trailing 14-0 at the break, Mateo Carreras' eighth Premiership try of the season launched Newcastle's second-half fightback.
Carreras crossed for a second before replacement scrum-half Sam Stuart scored his first try of the season to seal a third league win in four to lift Falcons up to eighth ahead of Round 14.
Gloucester vs London Irish - 3pm kick-off
Round 13 heroes London Irish will be looking to back up their stunning win over Saracens when they take on play-off hopefuls Gloucester at Kingsholm.
Last season's runners-up Saracens had made a perfect start to 2022/23, winning every one of their first nine league games ahead of their derby encounter with city rivals London Irish.
Irish survived a spell with just 12 men to hand Saracens their first Premiership defeat of the campaign in an absorbing contest.
Ollie Hassell-Collins and Chandler Cunningham-South crossed for Irish and Paddy Jackson kicked 19 points, with both sides seeing red for high tackles.
Jackson landed five penalties to punish an indisciplined Sarries and converted both scores as Irish held out.
Having been narrowly edged out in defeats by Leicester, Exeter, Harlequins and Gloucester by less than five points, Declan Kidney will have been delighted to see Irish come out on the right side of the scoreboard.
This was just their third win of the season, and was the product of huge heart and resolve to knock off the league leaders and deny them a losing-bonus point of their own.
Now Irish head west for a showdown with play-off chasing Gloucester, who sit five points above the Exiles in fifth.
Sunday 1 January
Northampton Saints vs Harlequins - 2pm (3pm KO), BT Sport 1 HD & BT Sport Ultimate
Watch live stream from 2pm
New Year's Day sees Northampton Saints welcome Harlequins to Franklin's Gardens in the first Premiership game of 2023.
Hosts Northampton have lost their last two league games on the road at Saracens and Gloucester, but they have exemplary record on home turf.
Indeed, since February, their only defeat in front of their own fans came at the hands of bitter local rivals Leicester back in September.
Quins' four game winning run streak in the league ended in a 15-12 reversal at the hands of struggling Bristol on Tuesday.
The Londoners have won three of their four games on the road so far this season but they have a rotten record in Northampton.
The two-time Premiership champions' have won only once at Franklin's Gardens since 2012, with that victory coming back in November 2020.
Quins could be without veteran prop Joe Marler after the England international was charged with 'conduct prejudicial to the game.'
Marler, 32, will face a disciplinary hearing on Friday after being cited over comments made to Bristol flanker Jake Heenan, sparking a mass brawl that took several minutes to diffuse.
Can Northampton pick up their first league win since the first week of November or will Quins consolidate their place in the play-off spots with their fourth away victory of the season.
