British & Irish Lions Manu Tuilagi and Ben Youngs will make their first appearances of the season, having been named in Leicester Tigers’ starting line-up for the weekend.
Tuilagi and Youngs, who made three Test appearances for the Lions between them and have yet to take to the field for the Tigers this season, will both start against Newcastle Falcons on Saturday.
And five of Leicester’s six-strong Lions contingent could be on parade at Welford Road with prop Dan Cole, hooker Tom Youngs and lock Geoff Parling all on the bench – Tom Croft, meanwhile, is out for the season with a long-term knee problem.
“We’ve had some very good players unavailable already this season and having some of them back in the fold is really good news for us, for the supporters and obviously for the players,” said Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill.
Meanwhile, Saracens and Lions prop Mako Vunipola will make his first start of the season after emerging from the bench in previous matches while for Northampton Saints, George North continues on the left wing while Alex Corbisiero is rested.
