2021/22 Premiership fixture list hands Mike Brown intriguing debut

Veteran ex-England full-back Mike Brown is set for an immediate chance to face his old club Harlequins when Newcastle Falcons host the reigning Gallagher Premiership champions at Kingston Park on the Sunday of the opening weekend of the new 2021/22 season in September.

Brown, a 17-year veteran at Harlequins, missed the dramatic end of the Premiership season run by the London club to the league title last season, his six-match ban for a red card versus Wasps rendering him unavailable. That suspension has now elapsed and Brown, along with fellow new Falcons signing Nathan Earle, will now welcome his former club to the North-East on September 19. 

Harlequins director of rugby performance Billy Millard said: “It’s great to have sight of how our season as defending Premiership champions will kick-off. Newcastle away is a tough match and we are looking forward to testing ourselves early with a trip north.   

“Our first game back at The Stoop will be something special. The majority of our fans weren’t able to celebrate our trophy win last season and we are excited to welcome many more of them on September 25 as we host Worcester Warriors. 

“We have welcomed some new faces and a new senior coach during the off-season and we will be looking to hit the ground running with Tabai Matson joining us. These are exciting times to be part of the club. We feel we have a group that has so much more potential growth despite having already reached title status. I’m looking forward to kicking off the next part of our journey."

The new season will kick off on the Friday night, September 17, at Ashton Gate when semi-finalists Bristol, who finished the 2020/21 campaign at the top of the regular-season table, will host newly promoted Saracens. Bristol boss Pat Lam said: “It’s great that Bristol will host the competition curtain-raiser and better still that we will have fans back at the stadium again. A capacity crowd at Ashton Gate, under the lights on a Friday night, always creates one of the best atmospheres in the country so we are excited about getting underway.”

Having been automatically relegated for repeated breaches of the salary cap, Saracens are now back in the top-flight following their 117-15 aggregate win over Ealing in the Championship promotion play-off. Boss Mark McCall said: "Playing at Ashton Gate first up will be a great challenge but one our group will relish.”

For the first time since the Premiership started in 1997, 13 teams will contest the league which means each club with have two bye weeks in the season. Wasps have their initial bye week in round one, hosting Bristol in their first game of the season on September 25. The 2021/22 season will comprise 26 rounds plus semi-final and final (on June 18).

• Click here for a full list of Gallagher Premiership 2021/22 season fixtures