Ben Foden penalised at the breakdown for not releasing and Irish with the chance to mount an attack...

Driving maul as Irish collect the ball upfield and instead of going for the posts Brendan McKibbin hits the corner.

Leicester Tigers make a late change to their XV with Jono Kitto ruled out. So England scrum-half Ben Youngs takes his place in the starting line-up with Sam Harrison on the bench.

Penalty conceded at the scrum by Irish leading to a chance to kick at goal for Stephen Myler....

It's an early miss from the Saints fly-half surprisingly.

Image source, Getty Images

Two early errors in the line-out for Irish as they drop the ball.

Early attacking scrum for Northampton 15 metres from The Exiles' line.

Early kicking exchange by both sides before Northampton's Kahn Fotuali'i hits one out on the full accidentally.

Irish with ball in hand for first time before Chris Noakes hits a grubber kick across the line which bounces over Ciaran Hearn's head.

We're off and running in our first game of the day through the boot of Stephen Myler for Northampton....

The pipes and the drums are blaring out of the Madejski Stadium PA.

Not long to go until kick-off....

Have your say on the afternoon's action by using #bbcrugby on Twitter.

Teams are starting to assemble their signings for next season, any Christmas sales bargains out there for your team to snap up?

BBC local radio has full match commentary of all this afternoon's matches.

Select commentaries using theLive Coveragetab above.

Here's a look of how the teams stand ahead of the start of round seven...

Image source, BBC Sport

Newcastlename half-back Craig Willis in the squad for his debut, while full-back Simon Hammersley makes his first start since November.

Falcons, without a win so far this season, have not won at Welford Road since a Premiership victory in 1998.

Replacements: Scott Lawson, Alex Rogers, Taione Vea, Mouritz Botha, Todd Clever, Sonatane Takulua, Tom Catterick, Juan Pablo Socino.

Mathew Tait, Logovi'i Mulipola and Opeti Fonua all return forLeicesterfor the visit of Newcastle.

Samoa international prop Mulipola joins Harry Thacker and Fraser Balmain in the front row, Tait plays at full-back against his former club, and Fonua is one of six internationals among the replacements for Tigers.

Replacements: Tom Youngs, Matias Aguero, Dan Cole, Sebastian De Chaves, Opeti Fonua, Ben Youngs, Tommy Bell, Seremaia Bai.            

Sale recall captain Dan Braid, plus Sam Tuitupou, Josh Beaumont, Danny Cipriani and TJ Ioane for the trip to Sandy Park.

Sharks have won just once at Exeter since the Chiefs came into the Premiership for the 2010-11 season.

Replacements: Cameron Neild, Eifion Lewis-Roberts, Brian Mujati, Andrei Ostrikov, Mark Easter, Chris Cusiter, Joe Ford, Mark Jennings.

Second-placed Exeterbring prop Ben Moon and back-rower Mitch Lees into the pack, while half-back Will Chudley and centre Sam Hill return to the backline.

Fly-half Gareth Steenson makes his 100th Premiership appearance for the Chiefs, but lock Damien Welch is out injured.

Replacements: Elvis Taione, Carl Rimmer, Moray Low, Ollie Atkins, Tom Johnson, Dave Lewism, Will Hooley, Michele Campanaro.

That's how the land lies ahead of our 14:30 GMT kick-off, but don't forget, two more games on the way from 15:00 GMT.

Team news on the way from both Sandy Park and Welford Road....

Image source, Getty Images

Not only are Tom Coventry's side without a win this season, they're also without a point to their name from the opening six rounds.

Dylan Hartley returns after seven weeks out with concussion to captainNorthampton.

Hartley, tipped to be the next England captain, is one of a totally new front five from the side that lost to Racing 92, as Ethan Waller, Paul Hill, Michael Paterson and Christian Day all come in.

Replacements: Mikey Haywood, Alex Waller, Gareth Denman, Victor Matfield, Sam Dickinson, Lee Dickson, JJ Hanrahan, Tom Collins.