Weekend action

Heaven knows how long it will last – the educated guess must be that it will change for the worse the moment the real pressure matches arrive – but much of the fascination surrounding this weekend's opening round of the Guinness Premiership is the sudden appearance of a few bright young things amid the cauliflower-faced veterans. Four members of the England Under-20s team that fell at the final hurdle in the Junior World Cup are involved, with the London Irish prop Alex Corbisiero starting against Wasps at Twickenham this afternoon and the much talked-about scrum-half Joe Simpson occupying a seat on the reigning champions' bench.

And this is not even the big news. The headline move comes from Newcastle, who have asked an 18-year-old playmaker to perform the role usually associated with a certain Jonathan Peter Wilkinson – or, on the frequent occasions when injury intervenes, as it has this time, Toby Flood. Rory Clegg, described by the Falcons' coach Steve Bates as "an extremely talented player with a fantastic temperament", will take the field at Kingston Park for tomorrow's opening hostilities with Sale.

With Jordan Turner-Hall of Harlequins holding off the substantial midfield challenge of Epi Taione, the combustible Tongan international, for this afternoon's meeting with Saracens – the second derby in a Twickenham double-header – and his fellow Under-20 regular Miles Benjamin waltzing into Worcester's first-choice formation for the visit to Northampton, the supporters of the Premiership academy system have something to shout about. The football line about teams winning nothing with kids may hold true more often than not, but if you cannot dish out some opportunities at this stage of a campaign, when can you?

Not that the initial selections are free of disappointment. Martin Johnson, the new England manager, would have been far happier had Northampton selected the brilliant young hooker Dylan Hartley in their team, rather than among the replacements, not least because Johnson is keen to fast-track the forward into the Test side. What is more, the Midlanders' director of rugby, Jim Mallinder, is holding back the exciting Ben Foden, who moved from Sale at the end of the last season in pursuit of a regular game at scrum-half.

These are minor quibbles, though. The opening weekend sees Mathew Tait, the most striking of Sale's many summer signings, make a debut against his one-time employers, who field his brother Alex at full-back. Meanwhile, Quins intend to hit Saracens with a back division of such blinding pace that the International Rugby Board may have to introduce even more experimental law variations just to slow them down. Whatever happens, it should be fun.

Interesting? Click here to explore further