Aviva Premiership: Team news for Sunday's matches

There are four Aviva Premiership fixtures on Sunday, with fourth-placed Northampton’s trip to second-placed Exeter arguably the pick.

Exeter v Northampton (1pm)

Head coach Rob Baxter has told his second-in-the-table Exeter Chiefs squad to play without pressure in their remaining five games.

Exeter are two points behind leaders Saracens and seven points in front of third-placed Wasps ahead of the visit of Northampton Saints.

Baxter said: "I don't want the players worrying about where they will end up at the end of the season. I want them going flat out against Northampton, because it's going to be a great game.

"I want them to make the most of this 80 minutes because you're time as a professional sportsman is limited, so I want them to maximise this time and this opportunity and look back on it with a bit of pride."

Exeter make several changes to the team that beat Newcastle 32-17 in their last game, with Ollie Atkins and Dave Ewers recalled to the pack ahead of Lewis Stevenson and Julian Salvi, and Dave Lewis given the nod at scrum-half ahead of Will Chudley.

James Short's inclusion means Ian Whitten reverts back into the centre alongside Henry Slade, which in turns sees Sam Hill dropped to the bench, where he will be joined by Australian international Lachie Turner, who is poised to make his debut.

Northampton make four changes to the team that claimed a bonus-point win over Sale last weekend. Ahsee Tuala comes in on the left wing, JJ Hanrahan starts at fly half, Alex Waller replaces brother Ethan at loose head, and Jonathon Fisher starts at No 8.

Exeter: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 James Short, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Dave Lewis, 1 Ben Moon, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 3 Harry Williams, 4 Ollie Atkins, 5 Geoff Parling, 6 Dave Ewers, 7 Don Armand, 8 Thomas Waldrom.

Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Carl Rimmer, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Julian Salvi, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Sam Hill, 23 Lachie Turner.

Northampton: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Harry Mallinder, 11 Ahsee Tuala, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Lee Dickson (c), 1 Alex Waller, 2 Mikey Haywood, 3 Paul Hill, 4 James Craig, 5 Christian Day, 6 Teimana Harrison, 7 Jamie Gibson, 8 Jonathan Fisher.

Replacements: 16 Reece Marshall, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Victor Matfield, 20 Tom Wood, 21 Kahn Fotuali'I, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 James Wilson.

Wasps v Sale (2pm)

The Wasps backline remains unchanged for a fourth successive week, with just one change in the pack, where Nathan Hughes starts at eight in the place of the injured George Smith.

Simon McIntyre is set to make his 100th appearance for Wasps, while Sam Jones captains the side in the absence of Smith.

Wasps director of rugby Dai Young said: "We know that Sale will punish us, as they have done in the past, if we are not at the top of our game, so we have to play with real tempo, pace and penetration.

"With the league as tight as it is currently, with the gap between third and eighth so narrow, one win or loss can completely change how the table looks. The challenge for us is backing up last weekend's performance with another one on Sunday."

Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Charles Piutau, 12 Siale Piutau, 11 Frank Halai, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Dan Robson, 1 Simon McIntyre, 2 Ashley Johnson, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 4 James Cannon, 5 Kearnan Myall, 6 Sam Jones (c), 7 Thomas Young, 8 Nathan Hughes.

Replacements: 16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Will Rowlands, 20 Alex Rieder, 21 Jamie Stevenson, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Brendan Macken.

Sale: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Jonny Leota, 12 Mark Jennings, 11 Nev Edwards, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Peter Stringer, 1 Ross Harrison, 2 Neil Briggs, 3 Brian Mujati, 4 Jonathan Mills, 5 Andrei Ostrikov, 6 Magnus Lund, 7 David Seymour (c), 8 Mark Easter.

Replacements: 16 Cameron Neild, 17 James Flynn, 18 Ciaran Parker, 19 TJ Ioane, 20 Viliami Fihaki, 21 James Mitchell, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Sam James.

London Irish v Gloucester (3.15pm)

Bottom side London Irish have made two changes from the team that lost to Saracens in New Jersey last week, with Tom Court replacing Tom Smallbone at loose head and Will Lloyd coming in for Elliott Stooke at second in the row.

Head coach Tom Coventry said: "If we continue to grow and come up with a collegial approach to the game, then I'm sure we will be OK. We had a great week in the US and we were very well hosted by the New York Jets.

"It was disappointing not to get the win over Saracens, but we played some very good rugby. On our return to England, it was all about getting the lads through recovery and preparing them for this weekend's game."

Gloucester make five changes to the team beaten 28-20 by Worcester last week.

In the back line, New Zealander Tom Marshall will make his debut at full-back, Callum Braley starts at scrum-half and Henry Trinder takes over from David Halaifonua on the left wing.

In the pack, Mariano Galarza comes in for Tom Savage and Lewis Ludlow will start at No 8 in place of Ross Moriarty.

London Irish: 15 Sean Maitland, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Topsy Ojo, 10 Greig Tonks, 9 Scott Steele, 1 Tom Court, 2 Tom Cruse, 3 Halani Aulika, 4 Will Lloyd, 5 Matt Symons, 6 Luke Narraway (c), 7 Blair Cowan, 8 Rob McCusker.

Replacements: 16 David Paice, 17 Tom Smallbone, 18 Leo Halavatau, 19 Jerry Sexton, 20 Jebb Sinclair, 21 Brendan McKibbin, 22 Theo Brophy Clews, 23 Fergus Mulchrone.

Gloucester: 15 Tom Marshall, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Bill Meakes, 12 Billy Twelvetrees (c), 11 Henry Trinder; 10 James Hook, 9 Callum Braley, 1 Nick Wood, 2 Richard Hibbard, 3 John Afoa, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 5 Mariano Galarza, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Matt Kvesic, 8 Lewis Ludlow.

Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Paul Doran-Jones, 19 Tom Savage, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Harry Randall, 22 Mark Atkinson, 23 Rob Cook.

Leicester v Saracens (3.15pm)

Leaders Saracens welcome back hooker Schalk Brits from a three-week suspension, while fellow South African Alistair Hargreaves returns to the second row and Kelly Brown comes in at openside flanker.

Alex Goode starts at full-back, Marcelo Bosch is back at centre following illness and the evergreen Neil de Kock comes in at scrum-half.

For Leicester, centre Owen Williams makes his first start since breakaway his jaw, while Tommy Bell comes in at full-back for Mathew Tait, who is ruled out after suffering concussion last weekend.

In the pack, Graham Kitchener comes into the second row, with Mike Fitzgerald moving to the back row.

Kick-off will follow a minute's applause in memory of former Tigers centre/wing Seru Rabeni, who died in Fiji this week at the age of 37.

Rabeni helped Leicester to two league titles in his time in the East Midlands, and has been remembered fondly by backs coach Geordan Murphy.

"Seru was an unbelievable player and an even better person," Murphy said. "The boys have been telling stories about him all week and they are ones that bring a smile to your face.

"He had fast feet, a fantastic step and he was massive. He also played with subtlety, people didn't realise how quick he was in relation to his size.

"I cannot say enough good things about him and he will be sorely missed."

Leicester: 15 Tommy Bell, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Peter Betham, 12 Owen Williams, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Jono Kitto, 1 Marcos Ayerza, 2 Harry Thacker, 3 Logovi'i Mulipola, 4 Dom Barrow, 5 Graham Kitchener, 6 Mike Fitzgerald, 7 Lachlan McCaffrey, 8 Jordan Crane (c).

Replacements: 16 Greg Bateman, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Tom Croft, 20 Opeti Fonua, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Matt Smith, 23 Telusa Veainu.

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Mike Ellery, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Brad Barritt (c), 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Nils Mordt, 9 Neil de Kock, 1 Richard Barrington, 2 Schalk Brits, 3 Juan Figallo, 4 Jim Hamilton, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 6 Michael Rhodes, 7 Kelly Brown, 8 Jackson Wray.

Replacements: 16 Dave Porecki, 17 Titi Lamositele, 18 Petrus Du Plessis, 19 Hayden Smith, 20 Will Fraser, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 Ben Ransom.