Newcastle Falcons v Bristol Bears: How to watch, TV channel, kick-off time, head-to-head stats and team news

Newcastle Falcons and Bristol Bears commence their respective campaigns on the opening weekend of the 2024/25 Premiership season.

Newcastle will be desperate to erase the memory of last term as they finished rock bottom after losing all 18 of their league matches, while Bristol narrowly missed out on a play-off berth as they ended the previous season in fifth.

How to watch Newcastle v Bristol and TV channel

The Premiership match between Newcastle Falcons and Bristol Bears will be broadcast live on TNT Sports Extra and Discovery+.

Newcastle v Bristol kick-off time, date and venue

Newcastle Falcons v Bristol Bears will be played at Kingston Park in Newcastle and kick-off is at 19:45 BST on Friday 20th September 2024.

Newcastle v Bristol stats and head-to-head record (H2H)

One of their 18 defeats last season, Newcastle suffered a chastening 85-14 loss at the hands of Bristol last term.

Prior encounters have been far tighter, though Bristol are on a three-game winning streak in this head-to-head contest.

Bristol were in red-hot form at the back end of the 2023/24 season, winning six of their final seven league matches.

Newcastle v Bristol head-to-head record (H2H)

Newcastle Falcons wins	6
Draws	0
Bristol Bears wins	8

*H2H stats since 2008

Newcastle v Bristol team news

Newcastle Falcons team news

The Falcons have been dealt a triple injury blow ahead of their season opener with Eduardo Bello (ACL), Cameron Neild (arm) and Kieran Wilkinson (knee) all facing lengthy periods on the sidelines.

Bristol Bears team news

Pat Lam will be without back rower Viliame Mata, who is expected to miss the first two months of the season with a hamstring injury.

Captain Fitz Harding and Steven Luatua are available.