Paul heads a cast of England internationals

Gloucester's date with Newcastle is the pick of the early ties at Twickenham's traditional season curtain-raiser.

Fellow England internationals Olly Barkley and Ollie Smith will also feature as Bath and Leicester meet in one of five all-Premiership clashes.

Northampton, the defending champions, start against London Welsh.

The Saints were the first Premiership club to win the tournament since 1999 when they beat Newcastle in the final a year ago.

London Irish and Harlequins will meet in a rehearsal for their opening Zurich Premiership match on 4 September.

The Exiles feature England Sevens players Paul Sackey and Geoff Appleford, while Quins include exciting wing Ugo Monye.

Other England Sevens players on display include Pat Sanderson and Ben Gollings (both Worcester), Peter Richards (Wasps), Kris Chesney (Saracens), Leon Lloyd (Leicester) and Simon Amor (Gloucester).

The four invitation sides at this year's charity event are the British Army, Rotherham, London Welsh and Loughborough University.

1st Round:
1: British Army v Rotherham Titans (1110 BST)
2: Bath v Leicester Tigers (1130)
3: London Irish v NEC Harlequins (1150)
4: Northampton Saints v London Welsh (1210)
5: Worcester v Loughborough Students (1230)
6: London Wasps v Leeds Tykes (1250)
7: Gloucester v Newcastle Falcons (1310)
8: Saracens v Sale Sharks (1330)

Quarter-Finals:
9: Winner 1 v Winner 2 (1350)
10: Winner 3 v Winner 4 (1410)
11: Winner 5 v Winner 6 (1430)
12: Winner 7 v Winner 8 (1450)

Semi-Finals:
13: Winner 9 v Winner 10 (1610)
14: Winner 11 v Winner 12 (1630)

Final:
Winner 13 v Winner 14 (1710)