Northampton Saints, who play Harlequins later this afternoon, will be keeping a curious eye on events at The Rec, as two of the pretenders to their throne do battle.

Victory would put Bath top, at least until Saints get underway at Twickenham, while Exeter can affirm their credentials as top-four mainstays with what would be a statement win in the West Country.

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I reckon it's fair to say that Exeter Chiefs have started this Premiership season like a train.

Having won seven of their opening 10 matches, Rob Baxter's side find themselves third in the table, and with an opportunity to leapfrog second-placed Bath with victory today.

So are they the real deal this season, or will the boys from Devon fade as the season goes on?

Luc Turnbull:, external Obviously Burgess should play at 12... It's more of a natural position for him and it would be a great help for the RWC #bbcrugby

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London Irish earned their first win in the Premiership since September as they beat fellow strugglers London Welsh yesterday.

Tries from Alex Lewington, Geoff Cross and Tom Court sealed the victory, with Welsh's Tom May and Irish's Dan Leo sent off in the first half.

Tom Homer kicked three conversions and a penalty, with all of London Welsh's points coming through Will Robinson.

The win, their third of the season, lifts Irish to 10th, while Welsh remain bottom without a victory all season.

Sale Sharks: Haley; Addison, Leota, Tuitupou, Cueto; Cipriani, Cusiter; Lewis-Roberts, Jones, Cobilas; Mills, Hines; Lund, Seymour, Braid (capt).

Replacements: Mamukashvili, de Marchi, Harrison, Ostrikov, Easter, Cliff, Ford, Jennings.

Leicester: Bell; Tait, Goneva, Bai, Benjamin; Burns, B. Youngs (capt); Rizzo, Ghiraldini, Cole; De Chaves, Parling; Gibson, Salvi, Crane.

Replacements: T. Youngs, Ayerza, Balmain, Peterson, Barbieri, Harrison, Williams, Thompstone.

Bath: Watson; Agulla, Joseph, Eastmond, Banahan; Ford, Cook; Auterac, Webber, Thomas; Hooper (capt), Day; Garvey, Louw, Houston.

Replacements: Batty, James, Wilson, Attwood, Fearns, Burgess, Young, Devoto.

Exeter: Dollman; Nowell, Slade, Hill, Jess; Steenson, Chudley; Moon, Yeandle, Low; Mumm (capt), Welch; Ewers, Armand, Waldrom.

Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Rimmer, Francis, Lees, Horstmann, Thomas, Whitten, Vainikolo.

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Putting Sam to one side for a moment, Mike Ford has overhauled the front row that started last week's satisfying West Country derby victory over Gloucester.

Nick Auterac, Rob Webber and Henry Thomas come in, while flanker Matt Garvey and winger Horacio Agulla also start.

Exeter had their superb eight-game winning run carved up by Sale last week, and Rob Baxter recalls forwards Jack Yeandle and Don Armand to his XV.

That wasn't a rhetorical question either, by the way. Where would you like to see big Sam end up on the pitch?

Whether you're sat in the front room trying to work out how to use your fancy new tablet or you're one of the 82,000 fans heading to Twickenham, please do get in touch on Twitter using #bbcrugby.

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It was tough enough waiting for Santa Claus to finally make his appearance this year, but on top of that we're still being deprived of Sam Burgess's first Premiership start.

The former rugby league superstar scored his first try since his cross-code switch in an A league game in midweek.

But, alas, he is among the replacements to face Exeter today so, like excitable kids at Christmas, we'll have to wait to see where Mike Ford uses Slammin' Sam next - will it be at centre or in the back row?

We have a festive feast in store for you today, with four Premiership matches to get our teeth stuck into, including the annual Christmas bash at rugby HQ.

First up we'll be focusing on events at The Rec, where Bath take on fellow high-flyers Exeter Chiefs at 14:00 GMT, before Harlequins face champions Northampton Saints in front of an 82,000 sell-out at Twickenham at 16:30 GMT.

You'll also be able to keep in touch with Sale v Leicester (14:00 GMT) and Newcastle v Saracens (15:00 GMT).

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Christmas can be a hard slog, can't it?

With presents to buy, turkey to cook and family and friends to entertain, after a good few days spent trying to please everyone else, it's nice to be able to just sit back, relax and let someone else do the work for a change.

So how about we spend the afternoon watching on as big, bustling blokes tear about a muddy field, bashing into one another, chasing around after an oval ball?

Sounds good to me. Welcome to our coverage of today's Premiership rugby union.