Finally it's the weekend that we've all been waiting for since the Aviva Premiership departed from our lives back in May. Internationally England had an outstanding summer and with the autumn tests not actually that far away and the small matter of there being a Lions tour at the end of this season the 2016-17 Aviva Premiership term promises to be electric.
During July and August our domestic players were put through hell and back by their strength and conditioning coaches and now all are itching to get their club campaigns underway. Many of the signings that we spent months discussing will be taking to the field and personally I can’t wait to see how the next 22 rounds pan out.
Leicester Tigers are known for their opening round victories having won their past four round one matches in succession but they've only recorded one victory in their last seven away games. That said Richard Cockerill and Aaron Mauger have the luxury of unleashing some fairly considerable firepower on the road this time out. Peter Betham and Telusa Veainu were two of last season's standout performers and with a fit and firing Manu in the mix Gloucester’s new centre partnership of Billy Twelvetrees and Matt Scott will have plenty to contend with down their channel. Gloucester have looked to really sharpen up their output over the pre-season and focused on their decision making and skill sets and these have to come to the fore from minute one. Equally their pack must deliver a full throttle eighty minute performance and Billy Burns needs to embrace his starting opportunity and handle the pressure that comes with facing his brother! Two to watch: JP Pietersen’s and Matt Scott’s maiden Premiership outings. 
Newcastle Falcons have not won on the opening weekend of a new Aviva Premiership season since Sale visited Kingston Park in 2007 and they’d dearly like to change that record on Friday night. Interestingly the Sharks’ Round 1 record isn’t as strong as you might expect it to be as they’ve only won one of their last five openers. Steve Diamond’s side are travelling with a number of new faces as he fields six starting debutants. Of course the spotlight will be on Mike Phillips and AJ MacGinty to see how they orchestrate the match and out wide it will be interesting to see how Nev Edwards contends with Vereniki Goneva. The Falcons need their crowd to get behind them and they need to ensure that they maintain good discipline from the outset to put them in a positive position to work from. Two to watch: Sinoti Sinoti and keep an eye out for Sam James’ influence in the match
Saracens finished last season with a run of ten successive victories in all competitions and are heading back to Twickenham Stadium to look to add to that impressive run of form. There are debuts for Schalk Burger, Alex Lozowski and Sean Maitland and a couple of personal appearance milestones as Chris Ashton makes his 100th outing and captain Jamie George his 150th. Worcester are missing some of their key weapons with Chris Pennell and Francois Hougaard both missing and in all honestly they look a little undercooked compared to the current Premiership and European Champions. It’s a case of going for broke for Worcester but I believe that we’ll see Saracens absolutely fly on the Twickenham turf. Two to watch: The work-rate of Phil Dowson for the Warriors and the Saracens debut of Alex Lozowski. 
By my reckoning Franklin's Gardens is set for a humdinger between two sides that are desperate to start their respective seasons in style. There's class, and belting head-to-heads, all over the field with the clashes between Louis Picamoles and Taulupe Faletau set to make the foundations rock. Bath’s only defeat on the opening weekend since 2006 came at back in 2009 but they haven’t been victorious at Franklin’s Gardens for the last 15 years. Harry Mallinder will be the man in Saints' 10 jersey and it will be interesting to see his afternoon as I personally still prefer him in the centres. I'm sure Kahn Fotuali'i will be given a warm welcome back and he'll be instrumental in whipping out quick ball for Bath's back line. Two to watch: Aside from those already mentioned Courtney Lawes and Dave Attwood's second-row contest should be spicy. 
The second part of the London Double Header will see Bristol return to Premiership action. Bristol’s final pre-season outing was against Wasps and certainly gave the indication that they’re as ready as they’ll ever be for the 22 round challenge that’s in front of them. Harlequins are calling upon plenty of experience like Jamie Roberts, Chris Robshaw and Nick Evans but will be missing Mike Brown as he’s currently suffering from illness. In theory Harlequins’ experience should shut down Bristol from early doors but I’m expecting Andy Robinson’s side to come out firing and for us to see plenty of creativity from Tusi Pisi and Gavin Henson. Two to watch: Joe Marchant - a young man with oodles of talent but hasn’t really cut his cloth in the Premiership yet. Soane Tonga’uiha - it’s vital that he gets the measure of Kyle Sinckler and provides Bristol with a solid set piece.
Finally we'll be heading to the Ricoh Arena to enjoy another chapter in the Wasps and Exeter Chiefs classic novel. Matches between these two sides are always outstanding encounters and Sunday should follow suit. There are plenty of eyes on the 10 and 12 selections as Dai Young has chosen to field both Danny Cipriani and Jimmy Gopperth while Rob Baxter hands the fly-half jersey to Henry Slade and hands Ollie Devoto the largest of debuts. Both back rows are physical trios and each have experience and firepower to bring off their respective benches. Interestingly history shows that neither side start the season particularly strongly; Wasps have been defeated in their opening game for the past four years and Exeter have only won once in the past three seasons. Two to watch: Picking just two from these two squads is extremely tough, I've already mentioned quite a few to watch so let's also throw in the two hookers Tommy Taylor and Luke Cowan-Dickie. Both like a fast and loose game and should be able to show what they've got on Sunday afternoon.
Round 1 Schedule
Fri 2 Sept - Gloucester v Leicester [7.45pm] BT Sport
Fri 2 Sept - Newcastle Falcons v Sale Sharks [8pm]
Sat 3 Sept - Saracens v Worcester Warriors [2pm] BT Sport
Sat 3 Sept - Northampton Saints v Bath Rugby [3.30pm]
Sat 3 Sept - Harlequins v Bristol Rugby [4.30pm] BT Sport
Sun 4 Sept - Wasps v Exeter Chiefs [3pm] BT Sport
View the full set of team news for Round 1 here
