Premiership: Fijian showdown as Bristol host Bath; Alex Sanderson leads Sale for first time against Leicester

Josh Matavesi insists his camaraderie with Semi Radradra will be discarded when he collides with his Fiji team-mate in Friday's West Country derby between Bath and Bristol.

Matavesi and Radradra line-up in opposing midfields in the Gallagher Premiership clash at Ashton Gate having operated together on the international stage for the last two years.

Bath's versatile playmaker views Fijian magician Radradra as the sport's star attraction - but for reasons beyond the dazzling skills that repeatedly outwits defences.

"I've played quite a lot of rugby with Semi for Fiji, including at the World Cup, so I know him well and know it's a hard job to tackle him," Matavesi said.

"For me, he's the best player in the world and that's because I know what he does off the field.

"People see what he does in the 80 minutes, but for me it's what he does Monday to Friday - that's when he earns my respect. He's dedicated and is a good role model for the younger Fijians as well.

"He's a great communicator on the pitch. Coming from a Fijian background, we're normally very quiet people - it might be my Cornish side that makes me loud! - but he's great at feeding you information.

"He also does the dirty work like hitting rucks. It's not just offloading, he does carry hard and straight as well. It's an honour when I play with him, but against Bristol all bets are off."

Bristol are looking to extend their lead at the summit of the Premiership when they clash against local rivals who have managed only two wins from their six league outings.

Bristol Bears: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 Piers O'Conor, 11 Henry Purdy, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Andy Uren, 1 Jake Woolmore, 2 Bryan Byrne, 3 John Afoa, 4 Dave Attwood, 5 Chris Vui, 6 Steven Luatua (c), 7 Dan Thomas, Nathan Hughes.

Replacements: 16 Will Capon, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Jake Armstrong, 19 Ed Holmes, 20 Jake Heenan, 21 Tom Kessell, 22 Callum Sheedy, 23 Alapati Leiua.

Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Ruaridh McConnochie, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Gabriel Hamer-Webb, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Ben Spencer, 1 Juan Schoeman, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Christian Judge, 4 Josh McNally (C), 5 Elliott Stooke, 6 Josh Bayliss, 7 Miles Reid, 8 Zach Mercer.

Replacements: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Mike Williams, 20 Taulupe Faletau, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Cameron Redpath, 23 Joe Cokanasiga.

Leicester Tigers vs Sale Sharks (Friday, 7.45pm)

The second fixture on Friday night sees Alex Sanderson take charge of his first game as Sale's new director of rugby when the Sharks visit Mattioli Woods Welford Road, where Leicester are showing signs of resurgence under Steve Borthwick.

Sanderson told Sale's official website ahead of the game: "One of the most exciting things about coming to Sale for me, was that I knew I wouldn't have to convince the squad about some of the fundamentals I believe give you the platform for success in this game.

"As an example, physicality, for me, is one of those fundamentals. I played that way, I have coached that way for the last fifteen years and it's a very difficult mindset to install, but they have it here in bucketloads already.

"You only have to look at the defensive record over the past couple of seasons to show that, but we have to make sure our mentality is spot on too if we want to have a chance of performing at the highest level consistently."

Centre Sam James makes his 150th appearance for the Sharks while Scotland wing Byron McGuigan makes his first Sale appearance since August after overcoming a hamstring injury.

Meanwhile, Tom Youngs makes his 200th appearance for the Tigers, and Richard Wigglesworth returns from suspension to start at scrum-half, partnering Zack Henry at half-back.

Borthwich said of Youngs' milestone: "Tom is a homegrown Tigers player, came through the academy system and has played here at Leicester Tigers his whole career.

"He lives and breathes Leicester Tigers and would do anything for the club. Tom is the type of character that every player will follow."

Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Kobus Van Wyk, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Zack Henry, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 1 Luan de Bruin, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 3 Dan Cole, 4 Harry Wells, 5 Calum Green, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Tommy Reffell, 8 Jasper Wiese.

Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Nephi Leatigaga, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Tomás Lavanini, 20 George Martin, 21 Cyle Brink, 22 Jack Van Poortvliet, 23 Johnny McPhillips.

Sale Sharks: 15 Luke James, 14 Byron McGuigan, 13 Sam James,12 Sam Hill, 11 Marland Yarde, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Faf de Klerk; 1 Bevan Rodd, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 3 WillGriff John, 4 Cobus Wiese, 5 JP du Preez, 6 Jono Ross (c), 7 Sam Dugdale, 8 Josh Beaumont.

Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 James Phillips, 20 Cameron Neild, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Robert du Preez, 23 Tom Roebuck.

Gloucester vs Northampton Saints (Saturday, 3pm)

Gloucester's England international scrum-half Willi Heinz makes his first appearance of the season after recovering from injury, while full-back Jason Woodward also returns. Wing Santiago Carreras is awarded a first Gloucester start.

Wales fly-half Dan Biggar starts for Northampton a week before the Guinness Six Nations Championship kicks off as Saints play their first game since Boxing Day. Changes from that match against Worcester see call-ups for Piers Francis, Taqele Naiyaravoro, Api Ratuniyarawa and Shaun Adendorff.

Gloucester: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Santiago Carreras, 13 Billy Twelvetrees, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Lloyd Evans, 9 Willi Heinz, 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin, 2 Henry Walker, 3 Fraser Balmain, 4 Matt Garvey, 5 Matias Alemanno, 6 Jordy Reid, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 8 Ruan Ackermann.

Replacements: 16 Todd Gleave, 17 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Alex Craig, 20 Jamie Gibson, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Tom Seabrook, 23 Kyle Moyle.

Northampton Saints: 15 George Furbank, 14 Matt Proctor, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Alex Mitchell, 1 Alex Waller (cc), 2 Sam Matavesi, 3 Paul Hill, 4 David Ribbans, 5 Api Ratuniyarawa, 6 Nick Isiekwe, 7 Lewis Ludlam (cc), 8 Shaun Adendorff.

Replacements: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Ehren Painter, 19 Alex Moon, 20 Alex Coles, 21 Tom James, 22 Fraser Dingwall, 23 Tommy Freeman.

Worcester Warriors vs Exeter Chiefs (Saturday, 3pm)

Worcester lock Graham Kitchener features for the first time this term after recovering from a broken foot, and he partners Justin Clegg in the second row. One other change from the side beaten by Sale sees a return for fly-half Billy Searle, and there is no place in the 23 for new signing Chris Ashton.

Scotland captain Stuart Hogg starts for Exeter, along with his Six Nations colleague Jonny Gray, and Wales prop Tomas Francis also features, but the Chiefs are without England's Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jonny Hill, Henry Slade and Harry Williams as they prepare for the tournament with Eddie Jones' squad.

Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Perry Humphreys, 13 Oli Morris, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Nick David, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Francois Hougaard, 1 Ethan Waller, 2 Niall Annett, 3 Nick Schonert, 4 Justin Clegg, 5 Graham Kitchener, 6 Ted Hill (C), 7 Matt Kvesic, 8 Marco Mama.

Replacements: 16 Beck Cutting, 17 Marc Thomas, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Anton Bresler, 20 Sam Lewis, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Duncan Weir 23 Francois Venter.

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Tom O'Flaherty, 10 Joe Simmonds, 9 Jack Maunder, 1 Alec Hepburn, 2 Jack Yeandle (C), 3 Tomas Francis, 4 Jonny Gray, 5 Sam Skinner, 6 Dave Ewers, 7 Richard Capstick, 8 Sam Simmonds.

Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 James Kenny, 18 Marcus Street, 19 Don Armand, 20 Sean Lonsdale, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Harvey Skinner, 23 Tom Hendrickson.

London Irish vs Newcastle Falcons (Sunday, 2.30pm)

Australia international lock Rob Simmons makes a first start for Irish, with wing Ben Loader returning to action and Billy Meakes resuming his centre partnership with Curtis Rona. Fit-again Terrence Hepetema, meanwhile, is on the bench and is set for a first appearance this term.

Newcastle boss Dean Richards hands a first start to scrum-half Louis Schreuder, and he forges a new half-back partnership alongside Joel Hodgson. Elsewhere, hooker George McGuigan returns to action, and Philip van der Walt replaces England back-row forward Mark Wilson.

London Irish: 15 Tom Parton, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Billy Meakes, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Nick Phipps, 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke, 2 Agustin Creevy, 3 Sekope Kepu, 4 Steve Mafi, 5 Rob Simmons, 6 Matt Rogerson (c), 7 Seàn O'Brien, 8 Albert Tuisue.

Replacements: 16 Motu Matu'u, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Lovejoy Chawatama, 19 Adam Coleman, 20 Ben Donnell, 21 Blair Cowan, 22 Ben Meehan, 23 Terrence Hepetema.

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Tom Penny, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Toby Flood (cc), 11 Ben Stevenson, 10 Joel Hodgson, 9 Louis Schreuder, 1 Trevor Davison, 2 George McGuigan, 3 Logovi'i Mulipola, 4 Greg Peterson, 5 Marco Fuser, 6 Sean Robinson (cc), 7 Philip van der Walt, 8 Gary Graham.

Replacements: 16 Jamie Blamire, 17 Kyle Cooper, 18 Mark Tampin, 19 Will Montgomery, 20 John Hardie, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Brett Connon, 23 George Wacokecoke.

Wasps vs Harlequins (Sunday, 3pm)

Centre Malakai Fekitoa and wing Zach Kibirige return to the Wasps starting line-up after injuries, and Matteo Minozzi also starts after deciding not to join up with Italy for the Six Nations. Wales lock Will Rowlands features, and flanker Thomas Young captains the team instead of an injured Joe Launchbury.

Harlequins captain Stephan Lewies is back after injury and centre Andre Esterhuizen returns from suspension for Sunday's Ricoh Arena clash. Scrum-half Danny Care, fresh from agreeing a new contract with Quins, also starts.

Wasps: 15 Lima Sopoaga, 14 Zach Kibirige, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Jimmy Gopperth, 11 Matteo Minozzi, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Will Porter, 1 Simon McIntyre, 2 Tom Cruse, 3 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 4 Will Rowlands, 5 James Gaskell, 6 Brad Shields, 7 Thomas Young (c), 8 Tom Willis.

Replacements: 16 Tommy Taylor, 17 Ben Harris, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Tim Cardall, 20 Ben Morris, 21 Sam Wolstenholme, 22 Michael Le Bourgeois, 23 Rob Miller.

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Aaron Morris, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 1 Joe Marler, 2 Scott Baldwin, 3 Wilco Louw, 4 Matt Symons, 5 Stephan Lewies (c), 6 Archie White, 7 Will Evans, 8 Alex Dombrandt.

Replacements: 16 Elia Elia, 17 Jordan Els, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 Glen Young, 20 Richard de Carpentier, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 James Lang, 23 Tyrone Green.