England international Mouritz Botha, former USA Captain Todd Clever and England Sevens flyer Marcus Watson will all make their debuts at Kingston Park Stadium this Friday as Newcastle Falcons take on Leicester Tigers.
Former Saracens man Botha will partner Scottish international Scott MacLeod in the engine room while former USA Eagles captain Clever will join Richard Mayhew and club captain Will Welch in the back row.
Completing the forwards are 46 times capped Scotland Hooker Scott Lawson and Props Scott Wilson and Bobby Vickers.
The Falcons third debutant is England Sevens and Under 20s speedster Marcus Watson, turning out for the club at Full Back as he makes his first foray back into the 15s game since moving into the shortened form of the game in 2010.
Elsewhere in the backs Zach Kibirige makes his first appearance of the season, joined on the opposite wing by England Youth Sevens player Dan Marshall.
After impressing in his first outing for the club last weekend, Papua New Guinean Jason Tali joins Adam Powell in the centres.
Last weekend’s try scorer Craig Willis continues at Fly Half joined once again at Scrum Half by Ruki Tipuna.
The Falcons bench sees eight changes from the replacements that faced the Tigers on the road last Saturday.
Tom Penny looks to make an impact from the bench having started last weekend’s match at Welford Road following the injury that kept him out at the tail end of last season.
Joining Penny amongst the replacement backs are Ruaridh Dawson, Brett Connon and Chris Harris, with Ed Coulson in line to make his first appearance for the club should he take the field.
George McGuigan, Ben Harris and Andrew Foster are joined by Alex Rogers to provide alternative front row options while Callum Chick continues on the bench alongside fellow forwards Calum Green and Daniel Temm.
Newcastle Falcons vs Leicester Tigers
- R.Vickers, 2. S. Lawson, 3. S. Wilson, 4. M. Botha, 5. S. MacLeod, 6. R.Mayhew, 7. W. Welch (Capt.) 8. T. Clever,
- R. Tipuna, 10. C.Willis, 11. Z. Kibirge, 12. J.Tali, 13. A. Powell, 14. D. Marshall, 15. M. Watson,
Replacements:
- McGuigan, A.Rogers, B. Harris, A. Foster, C. Green, D. Temm, C. Chick, R. Dawson, B. Connon, C. Harris, T. Penny, E. Coulson