Saracens
Defending champions Saracens open their Aviva Premiership title defence at home to Sale
ESPN Staff
July 3, 2015
David Strettle and Richard Wigglesworth celebrate
David Strettle and Richard Wigglesworth celebrate© (Photo by Tony Marshall/Getty Images)

Aviva Premiership Rugby champions Saracens will open the defence of their title at home to Sale Sharks on October 17, Premiership Rugby confirmed today.

Saracens, who lifted the title at Twickenham at the end of May thanks to a 28-16 victory over Bath, will begin their campaign on the same day that the first two World Cup quarterfinals are touted to take place at Twickenham and the Millennium Stadium respectively.

Saracens Director of Rugby Mark McCall acknowledged the difficulty in predicting how the season will initially pan out given the sheer number of players competing for their countries.

"Sale Sharks at home is a very difficult start. We know how strong a team they are after we faced the Sharks in both Aviva Premiership Rugby and the European Rugby Champions Cup last season," he said.

"The opening fixtures are hard to forecast for us, as we currently have 21 players away on international duty in their respective training camps, with guys away with England, Scotland, Argentina, South Africa, Romania, USA and Namibia, the list goes on."

The traditional marquee season opener, the London Double Header, has been moved back to Saturday 28 November due to the prominence placed upon the Rugby World Cup. Saracens will host newly promoted Worcester Warriors while London Irish are at 'home' against Wasps in back-to-back fixtures at Twickenham.

Also catching the eye on opening day is the visit of 2013-14 champions Northampton Saints to newly-promoted Worcester Warriors while Aviva Premiership runners up Bath host westcountry rivals Exeter Chiefs. Both fixtures will feature in BT Sport's opening weekend double header of live rugby.

Saracens will also return to Wembley on April 16 where they face fellow London club Harlequins. Last season's contest between the two sides resulted in a club rugby world record attendance of 84,068.

Opening weekend fixtures in full:

Harlequins v Wasps

Newcastle Falcons v Gloucester Rugby

Worcester Warriors v Northampton Saints

Bath Rugby v Exeter Chiefs

Saracens v Sale Sharks

London Irish v Leicester Tigers

© ESPN Staff

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