Jamie Blamire starts against Zebre

England hooker Jamie Blamire and Italy lock Marco Fuser are the only additions to Newcastle Falcons’ team for Saturday’s EPCR Challenge Cup home game against Italian side Zebre Parma. The 8pm kick-off at Kingston Park Stadium is the final game of the group campaign, with the Falcons keen to kick on from last weekend’s 45-10 away win over Worcester Warriors. Sticking with largely the same group of players from the six-try triumph, director of rugby Dean Richards said: “We’d been so close over the previous six or seven weeks, losing a number of close games late on, so it was nice to see it all coming together at Worcester.

“The boys looked fresh, they’d prepared well and we were delighted with what they produced. It’s only one win so nobody is going overboard, but I was really happy for the lads after all the hard work they’ve put in.

“We’ve had a lot of injuries, particularly in the back row, although I thought the young lads have come in over the last month or so and been outstanding. Freddie Lockwood and Josh Basham got through a ton of work, and complemented everything that Will Welch did.”

Hooker George McGuigan will play his 150th game for the Falcons should he be called upon from the bench, with the Gallagher Premiership’s top try-scorer this week being named the league’s Player of the Month.

Fellow front-rower Mark Tampin is also in line for an appearance milestone as he prepares to come on for his 50th game, with Richards taking nothing for granted against his Italian visitors.

read the rest, including the official team list - here. 

get your tickets for the game here.