Leicester Tigers captain Ed Slater seems to always be in the wars. He returns after two games out injured, then in the early minutes he goes off with a head knock. 

Now he is working his right shoulder. Certainly is tough going at Welford Road today.

Gloucester's Matt Kvesic forces a turnover just as Leicester were building nicely.

That line speed out of defence is defined by the nugget of a man. 

From the ensuing penalty, Greig Laidlaw sends over his second kick for Gloucester with 20 minutes played.

Image source, Getty Images

Gloucester may have been exposed twice in their own territory, but they are starting their defensive efforts high up the pitch.

They have Leicester under all sorts of trouble inside their defensive 22m. Great line speed to shut Leicester down. 

Tigers eventually work their way out of danger following a charged down kick that goes dead.

The showmen of the game are getting the plaudits for Leicester right now, but it must be said that there have been some bruising runs from Harry Thacker and Graham Kitchener.

Gloucester have been opened up out wide, but the work up the middle by those guys are softening up the Cherry and Whites.

Image source, Getty Images

Now the points are flying in...

London Irish add the first five-pointer in Reading as Sean Maitland gives the home fans plenty to cheer about... But Tonks bursts the bubble with a conversion miss from in front of the posts!

It's taken a while to arrive but Exeter are now off the mark and guess who delivers their points? It's their leading try-scorer of the season Thomas 'The Tank' Waldrom!

Back in London it remains 14-6 in Harlequins' favour but Falcons are making their presence felt.  

Telusa Veainu collects a dangerous bouncing kick at pace for Leicester. Gloucester are moving the ball through hands at pace and are punching early holes in Tigers defence. 

That particular raid was down the left edge.

However, the hosts are equal to the probing attacks.

First scrum of the game comes in the opening minutes and really sets Gloucester up.

The Cherry and Whites with all the possession, swinging the ball from left to right and back again before being awarded a penalty as Owen Williams tries to strip the ball.

Greig Laidlaw with an easy kick lands the first points of the match.

In Reading both fly-halves, Cipriani and Tonks, have started their respective afternoons with accurate kicks off the tee and it's 3-3.

Back in south west London Harlequins have pushed their tally up to 14 as Jack Clifford finishes a textbook catch and drive and Botica adds the conversion 

And at Sandy Park they're still waiting to join the points-scoring party... Hopefully they'll come soon!  

Image source, Getty Images

It's a cool, partly cloudy 16C at Welford Road this afternoon as visitors Gloucester kick us off in this main Premiership game.

Image source, @bbcrugbyunion

As always we'd very much welcome your input throughout the afternoon, and you can get in touch with us by using #bbcrugby on Twitter.

And, if you're not doing so already, you can follow the official @bbcrugbyunion, external account for all the latest news from the world of rugby union too. Well worth a gander, obviously.

Image source, Rex Features

Leicester Tigers have added Adam Thompstone, Logovi'i Mulipola and Brendan O'Connor to their matchday squad.

Tommy Bell, Ellis Genge, Laurence Pearce and Opeti Fonua make way for Richard Cockerill's side.

England back-rower Ben Morgan makes his first appearance for Gloucester since the win at Harlequins in February.

Wing Rob Cook also comes in and centres Mark Atkinson and Henry Tinder pair up as they make seven changes in total.

Leicester Tigers: Veainu; Thompstone, Betham, Tuilagi, Goneva; Williams, B Youngs; Mulipola, Thacker, Cole, Barrow, Kitchener, Croft, Evans, Slater (capt).

Gloucester: Marshall; Cook, Trinder, Atkinson, McColl; Hook, Laidlaw (capt); McAllister, Dawidiuk, Doran-Jones; Savage, Galarza; Evans, Kvesic, Morgan.

The Twickenham Stoop delivers us with our first points of the afternoon!

First, Mike Delaney slots a penalty in front of the posts for Newcastle and shortly after Tim Visser latches onto an easy interception and Ben Botica adds the extras for the home side. 

Elsewhere, it remains scoreless at the Madejski Stadium where London Irish are hosting Sale.

And don't forget that the 15:15 BST start at Welford Road, our feature game today, isn't all that far away either. Team news for that one is just around the corner.

The tweet below is from an hour or so ago, so we can only assume the ground is looking a little fuller by now...

We're under way in all three of our 15:00 BST kick-offs!

Sandy Park, The Stoop and the Madejski Stadium are all looking resplendent in the late spring sunshine. Belting conditions for running rugby.

As well as following these carefully crafted words as the afternoon progresses, there is also BBC local radio commentary available on all four of today's top-flight matches.

Just pop up to the 'Live Coverage' at the top of this page and select which game you'd like to listen to.

Image source, Rex Features

Exeter Chiefs have England winger Jack Nowell back as they concentrate on securing a place in the Premiership play-offs for the first time in their history.

Nowell is one of six changes following last week's 36-18 defeat at Saracens.

Fellow Cornishman Sam Betty returns for Worcester Warriors at open-side flanker, one of two changes to the starting XV on duty for the 12-6 win over London Irish.

Tight-head prop James Johnston makes a first start as the Warriors seek a club-record fifth league win in a row.

Exeter Chiefs: Dollman; Nowell, Slade, Whitten, Woodburn; Steenson (capt), Chudley; Moon, Cowan-Dickie, Low, Atkins, Welch, Armand, Salvi, Waldrom.

Worcester Warriors: Pennell; Heem, Olivier, Symons, Vuna; Heathcote, Hougaard; Rapava Ruskin, Annett, Johnston, O'Callaghan, Barry, Kirwan, Betty, Van Velze (capt).

Image source, Getty Images

Harlequins make two changes to the side that lost at Northampton last week as former England captain Chris Robshaw returns to the starting XV.

Wing Marland Yarde is back from injury while Charlie Walker and flanker Luke Wallace drop out of the squad.

Sinoti Sinoti makes his third league start of the season for Newcastle Falcons, with Alex Tait switching to full-back.

The only other change sees Ally Hogg included at number eight, with Mark Wilson moving into the second row.

Harlequins: Brown; Yarde, Marchant, Roberts, Visser; Botica, Care (capt); Marler, Gray, Collier, Merrick, Horwill, Robshaw, Clifford, Easter.

Newcastle Falcons: Tait; Watson, Harris, Powell, Sinoti; Delany, Young; Vickers, McGuigan, Vea, Wilson, Green, Latu, Welch (capt), Hogg.

Image source, Rex Features

London Irish have made three changes to their side for the visit of Sale to the Madejski Stadium.

Jebb Sinclair replaces loanee Elliott Stooke, who has returned to Gloucester, while David Paice and Tom Fowlie start ahead of Tom Cruse and Topsy Ojo.

Sale Sharks head coach Steve Diamond has recalled Brian Mujati and Andrei Ostrikov to his starting XV.

They replace Vadim Cobilas and Jonathan Mills, who drop to the bench after playing in the win over Leicester.

London Irish: Maitland: Fowlie, Hearn, Williams, Fenby; Tonks, Steele; Court, Paice, Aulika, Sinclair, Symons, Narraway (capt), Cowan, Treviranus.

Sale Sharks: Haley: Addison, James, Tuitupou, Edwards; Cipriani, Stringer; Lewis-Roberts, Taylor, Mujati, Evans, Ostrikov, Neild, Seymour (capt), Easter.