Newcastle v Leicester: Teams

Newcastle welcome back captain Carl Hayman for Sunday's Guinness Premiership clash with Leicester Tigers at Kingston Park.

The All Black prop missed last weekend's visit of Cardiff Blues with a back injury, but has been given until the day to prove his fitness along with loose head Jon Golding, who picked up an ankle injury in that game.

Both have been named in the line-up pending late fitness tests, with the only other changes being at lock forward where the fit-again Tim Swinson replaces Samoan international Filipo Levi, and on the wing where Danny Williams returns in place of Tom Biggs.

"Carl has been making reasonable progress during the week, but the medical team will have a look at him on Sunday and make a call from there to determine whether or not he is fit enough to start the game," said director of rugby Steve Bates.

Quality

"Leicester are undoubtedly a class team, but our record here against them has been good in recent years.

"From watching the tapes we know they will test us in pretty much every area, and they aren't at the top of the league for nothing because they have quality players right across the board.

"I felt we gave a decent account of ourselves when we went to Welford Road back in September though, we held with them for most of the way and could probably count ourselves unlucky not to have taken a bonus point from that game.

"They have a very strong set piece which gives them a good platform and they have shown they can punish teams by kicking their penalties, so discipline will definitely be a key factor for us inside our own half.

"If we can get quick ball that will undoubtedly benefit us, and in Chris White we have a referee who has shown he is willing to get the tackler away and to let the game flow."

With a host of former Falcons set to return to Kingston Park in Leicester colours, Bates said: "It's always good to see guys doing well who you have worked with, and I'm sure the lads will be looking forward to locking horns with some of their old team mates on the day.

Momentum

"But the main thing for us is just concentrating on our own job, because we all know how vital every single point is at this time of the season."

Meanwhile, the league-leading Tigers head to the Falcons with the same 23-man squad involved in their last league outing, a 43-20 win over Bath at Welford Road two weeks ago.

Head coach Richard Cockerill has named an unchanged starting XV, led by Geordan Murphy, and also retained the same eight replacements.

"Newcastle is always a tough place to go, they always seem to find their form against Leicester Tigers," said Cockerill.

"They are a few points above the relegation issues but probably feel they need one more win to make sure. It's an important game for us too, we want to finish top of the league and we want to keep our momentum and our form going for as long as we can."

Newcastle: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Danny Williams, 13 Gcobani Bobo, 12 Tane Tu'ipulotu, 11 Charlie Amesbury, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Micky Young, 8 Josh Afu, 7 Ed Williamson, 6 Brent Wilson, 5 Tim Swinson, 4 James Hudson, 3 Carl Hayman (capt), 2 Rob Vickers, 1 Jon Golding.
Replacements: 16 Matt Thompson, 17 Micky Ward, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Filipo Levi, 20 Mark Sorenson, 21 Hall Charlton, 22 Tom Catterick, 23 Tom Biggs.

Leicester: 15 Geordan Murphy (capt), 14 Scott Hamilton, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Mefin Davies, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 George Chuter, 17 Boris Stankovich, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Ben Kay, 20 Craig Newby, 21 James Grindal, 22 Jeremy Staunton, 23 Johne Murphy.