Oliver Spencer makes his Newcastle Falcons debut on Sunday when Caldy visit Kingston Park in the final game of the Premiership Rugby Cup group phase.

The 19-year-old was recently in France training with England’s Rugby World Cup squad – the former Sedbergh Schoolboy making his first appearance for Newcastle after missing most of last season with a knee injury.

Fellow 19-year-old Ben Douglas makes his first start for the Falcons after coming on four times from the bench, the Newcastle native forming a youthful half-back pairing with England Under-20s fly-half Louie Johnson.

Sam Cross captains the team in his first start for the club, with the former Welsh international having made his debut from the bench during last week’s trip to Leicester Tigers.

Summer signings Louis Brown, Cameron Hutchison, John Kelly, Kiran McDonald and Josh Bainbridge all start, while the bench sees a return for George Wacokecoke after ten months out with a broken leg.

Durham University scrum-half Max Pepper – the brother of Falcons flanker Guy Pepper – is in line for his competitive debut after scoring a try during the summer’s True North Origin fixture, while prop Sam Clark and lock Finn Baker are also poised to make their debuts having been named among the replacements.

Newcastle have won three of their four games in this season’s Premiership Rugby Cup, beating Ampthill, Bedford and Sale Sharks prior to last weekend’s heavy loss at Leicester Tigers – a result from which head coach Alex Codling is keen to learn and move on.

“Overall it’s been a positive campaign – last Saturday aside,” said the Falcons boss.

“We had a tough result at Leicester but in terms of the amount of players we’ve used, the exposure the young guys have had and the way we’re building towards the start of the Gallagher Premiership, it’s been really useful.

“Against Bedford and Sale we had a positive mind-set and real intent, and with the likes of Ben Redshaw coming through playing as well as he did there was lots we could take from it.

“Obviously we need a reaction from last weekend’s performance at Leicester – the first half in particular – because there was a huge sense of frustration considering how well we had played the week before against Sale Sharks.

“Against a very experienced Leicester side we didn’t show the best version of ourselves in the first half, and even though the second half was a lot better the game had gone by then.”

Turning the focus ahead to Caldy, Codling said: “We’re looking for a reaction from the group, and we’ll have some really talented youngsters on show on Sunday.

“Hopefully our supporters will turn out in numbers and we can end the group campaign with a positive performance.

“Part of what we’re doing here is to give exposure to our young players, which can only help them and help the club in the long term.

“Outside of the cup competitions we’re a bit restricted in terms of what playing opportunities are available to the guys who aren’t selected in the Premiership every week – partly because of our geography and not having many Championship or National One clubs within close proximity.

“Obviously we do work with the clubs who are on our patch and look to manage the situation as best we can, but competitions like this are a great opportunity for guys to get exposure and game time.

“Like all Championship teams Caldy will be tough, and they pushed a strong Sale Sharks side very close last weekend.

“We’re expecting another strong challenge but we take every game seriously, and we’re looking for a strong performance going into the start of the league campaign.”

Tickets are on sale by clicking here, priced just £15 for adults and £7 for juniors in all areas of the stadium.

Sunday’s game is not included on the season ticket or season parking pass, but season ticket holders can get a FREE ticket by clicking here to use the ‘bring a friend’ option.

As well as the on-field action there will also be carnival rides on the West pitch, with the Argentina v Japan game on TV from 12 noon.

Newcastle Falcons v Caldy (Sunday, 2.15pm, Kingston Park)

15 Louis Brown, 14 Zach Kerr, 13 Oliver Spencer, 12 Cameron Hutchison, 11 Iwan Stephens, 10 Louie Johnson, 9 Ben Douglas; 1 Adam Brocklebank, 2 Ollie Fletcher, 3 Mark Tampin, 4 John Kelly, 5 Kiran McDonald, 6 Marcus Tiffen, 7 Josh Bainbridge, 8 Sam Cross (captain).

Replacements: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Mark Dormer, 18 Sam Clark, 19 Finn Baker, 20 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 21 Max Pepper, 22 Josh Thomas, 23 George Wacokecoke.

Caldy: 15 Matt Kilcourse, 14 Will Robinson, 13 Michael Cartmill, 12 Rhys Williams, 11 Jacob Mitchell, 10 Rhys Hayes, 9 Chris Pilgrim; 1 Ryan Higginson, 2 Ted Stagg, 3 Joe Sprotson, 4 Martin Gerrard, 5 Callum Atkinson, 6 Harrison Crowe, 7 Dave Jones, 8 JJ Dickinson.

Replacements: 16 Nathan Rushton, 17 Matt Gallagher, 18 Will Sanderson, 19 Sam Olyott, 20 Luke Cox, 21 Jacob Ainscough, 22 Ben Jones, 23 Sam Rogers.

Referee: Richard Gordon.