Henry Thomas
Bath prop on BBC Radio Bristol

A great kick from Tom Homer finally puts the ball out of play and Bristol are back in their own 22.

Rhodri Williams is put under a lot of pressure and his box-kick is charged down.

Bristol take the short line-out and Williams finally gets it away this time.

Worcester Warriors are off to a flying start, wing Dean Hammond crossing after a fine break from Wynand Olivier. Jamie Shillcock added the extras after an earlier penalty.

Meanwhile at Kingston Park, the game between Newcastle and Exeter has just kicked off.

Image source, Getty Images

A brilliant steal from Marc Jones who got his hands in the ruck and Bath are penalised for holding on.

Bristol have had plenty of possession in this opening 10 minutes as Billy Searle punts the ball downfield.

Not the cleanest of line-outs but they regain the ball on half way as we pause for a bit of ping-pong.

But for all their hard work, Bristol just can't find a way through the Bath defence.

They're expending a lot of energy and eventually, the ball is lost forward. 

Bath set for the scrum with Taulupe Faletau at the back, and the referee awards them the penalty.

Bristol have made a decent start here.

They steal Bath's line-out and win a penalty off Bath captain Matt Garvey.

They're into the Bath 22 and on their 12th phase of possession...

Bristol have the first attack of the night and it's not long before Ryan Edwards is fed the ball on the wing.

Some nice passing play from the visitors who make good ground, before Marc Jones is pulled for holding on.

First scrum of the night to come...

The appropriately named Ian Tempest blows his whistle and Billy Searle gets us under way.

The teams are out ahead of tonight's West Country derby...and it looks like it'll be a slippery encounter.

We've got a muddy pitch at The Rec as the two ancient rivals prepare to battle it out.

Don't forget, you can tune in to all three of tonight's matches by selecting your chosen BBC local radio commentary at the top of this page.

There is also commentary of Yorkshire Carnegie against Doncaster in the Championship.

The longest trip in the Premiership sees under-achieving Exeter travel 371 miles to a Newcastle side who have already picked up three victories this season.

That's one more than the 2015-16 Premiership runners up, Chiefs, this season.

Newcastle: Tait; Watson, Waldouck, Socino, Sinoti; Delany, Young; Lockwood, Lawson, Welsh, Green, Witty, Wilson, Welch (capt), Hogg

Replacements: Nelson, Vickers, Wilson, Young, Fonua, Egerton, Hodgson, Goneva

Exeter: Dollman; Woodburn, Devoto, Whitten, Short; Steenson (capt), Chudley; Moon, Yeandle, Williams, Lees, Hill, Dennis, Horstmann, Waldrom

Replacements: Malton, Rimmer, Holmes, Parling, White, Maunder, Simmonds, Turner

Worcester and Northampton have both started steadily, if not spectacular. Ben Foden makes his 200th appearance for Saints, while Warriors welcome back winger Cooper Vuna and centre Ryan Mills.

Worcester: Pennell; Hammond, Olivier, Mills, Vuna; Shillcock, Arr; Rapava Ruskin, Annett, Schonert, O'Callaghan, Barry, Potgieter, Kirwan, Dowson (capt).

Replacements: Singleton, Leleimalefaga, Daniels, Kitchener, Cox, Dowsett, Adams, Heem.

Northampton: Foden; Elliott, Burrell, Hutchinson, Wilson; Myler, Dickson; Waller, Haywood, Brookes, Paterson, Day, Gibson, Clark, Dickinson (capt).

Replacements: Clare, Waller, Denman, Craig, Nutley, Kessell, Olver, Collins.

As ever we'd love to hear your thoughts as this evening's action unfolds.

Bath fans, are you surprised by your excellent start? Bristol supporters, is there any way you can avoid relegation straight back to the Championship after seven straight losses?

Get in touch using #bbcrugby on Twitter.

Bottom side Bristol give hooker Marc Jones a first league start of 2016-17.

Fly-half Billy Searle gets a first top-flight start, while full-back Jordan Williams and wing Ryan Edwards return.

Bristol remain without sidelined back Gavin Henson.

Replacements: Hawkins, Bevington, Cortes, Phillips, Fenton-Wells, Cliff, Jarvis, Wallace.

Wales back row Taulupe Faletau makes his first start since 3 September.

Bath also welcome back outside centre Max Clark after injury.

Former Australia centre Ben Tapuai could make his debut from the replacements bench after arriving from Super Rugby outfit Western Force.  

Replacements: Dunn, Obano, Lahiff, Grant, Mercer, Homer, Hastings, Tapuai.  

Image source, Getty Images

Bristol's return to the Premiership this season has restored the derby with Bath to the fixture schedule after seven years away.

The two have met in the European Challenge Cup this season, with Bath running out 22-6 winners, but this is the first league encounter since March 2009.

Image source, Getty Images

There may be weather warnings of snow and frost but never fear, because tonight's West Country tussle between old rivals Bath and Bristol is just the start of a white-hot weekend of Premiership rugby union.

Chants will be sung, cider will be swilled, and a rain-soaked The Rec will be rocking, but if you can't be there then what better way to follow the action than here?

Add snippets of the matches at Newcastle v Exeter and Worcester v Northampton into the mix, and you've got a tasty looking line-up to kick off round eight.