The Warriors will visit Franklin's Gardens on Saturday, September 6th in the Premiership's opening round. September's other visitors to the Gardens are reigning champions London Wasps, while the Saints will travel to Newcastle Falcons, Saracens and Leicester Tigers.

The East Midlands derby will be played on Wednesday, October 1st to enable the Grand Final to be brought forward by two weeks, a move made necessary by a clash with the British Lions' opening tour match in South Africa.

The Saints will have three home matches at the turn of the year against Harlequins (Dec 20th), Bristol (Jan 3rd) and Leicester (Jan 10th), with their away game being at Bath (Dec 27th).

Once again the last match at the Gardens will be against London Irish (April 18th) although the season finishes at Sale Sharks' Edgeley Park on the weekend of April 24th/25th/26th.

"There are no easy games in the Premiership and September will be a massive challenge, especially with three away games," said Saints director of rugby Jim Mallinder. "Having said that, we will have to be at our best for the home matches as well! Worcester got better and better towards the end of last season and Wasps are always tough opponents. Newcastle, Saracens and Leicester will also be difficult trips. One thing is certain - we will be taking each game as it comes and giving it our best effort."

	OPPOSITION	VENUE
AUGUST
Sat 16th	Clermont Auvergne	Vichy
Sat 16th	Middlesex Sevens	Twickenham
Fri 22nd	Nottingham	TBC
Sat 23rd	Western Force	Franklin's Gardens
Wed 27th	Western Force Development	Franklin's Gardens
Fri 29th	Cardiff Blues	Arms Park
Sun 31st	Treviso	Franklin's Gardens
SEPTEMBER
Sat 6th	Worcester Warriors	Franklin's Gardens
Sun 14th	Newcastle Falcons	Kingston Park
Sat 20th	London Wasps	Franklin's Gardens
Sun 28th	Saracens	Vicarage Road
OCTOBER
Wed 1st	Leicester Tigers	Welford Road
Sat 4th	Bristol (EDF Energy Cup)	Franklin's Gardens
Fri/Sat/Sun 10/11/12	Euro Challenge Cup Round 1
Fri/Sat/Sun 17/18/19	Euro Challenge Cup Round 2
Sat 25th	Saracens (EDF Energy Cup)	Vicarage Road
NOVEMBER
Sat 1st	Llanelli Scarlets (EDF Energy Cup)	Franklin's Gardens
Sun 16th	Bristol	Memorial Stadium
Sat 22nd	Bath	Franklin's Gardens
Sat 29th	Gloucester	Kingsholm
DECEMBER
Fri/Sat/Sun 5/6/7	Euro Challenge Cup Round 3
Fri/Sat/Sun 12/13/14	Euro Challenge Cup Round 4
Sat 20th	Harlequins	Franklin's Gardens
Sat 27th	Bath	The Rec
JANUARY
Sat 3rd	Bristol	Franklin's Gardens
Sat 10th	Leicester Tigers	Franklin's Gardens
Fri/Sat/Sun 16/17/18	Euro Challenge Cup Round 5
Fri/Sat/Sun 23/24/26	Euro Challenge Cup Round 6
FEBRUARY
Sat 14th	Saracens	Franklin's Gardens
Sun 22nd	London Wasps	Adams Park
Sat 28th	Newcastle Falcons	Franklin's Gardens
MARCH
Sat 7th	Worcester Warriors	Sixways
Sat 14th	Sale Sharks	Franklin's Gardens
Sun 22nd	London Irish	Madejski Stadium
Sat 28th	Harlequins	The Stoop
Sat/Sun 28/29	EDF Energy Cup semi-final
APRIL
Sat 4th	Gloucester	Franklin's Gardens
Sat/Sun 11/12	Euro Challenge Cup quarter final
Sat 18th	London Irish	Franklin's Gardens
Sat/Sun 18/19	EDF Energy Cup final
Fri/Sat/Sun 24/25/26	Sale Sharks	Edgeley Park
MAY
Sat/Sun 2/3	Euro Challenge Cup semi-final
Sat 9th	Guinness Premiership semi-final
Sat/Sun 16/17	Guinness Premiership Grand Final
Sat/Sun 23/24	Euro Challenge Cup final