The 23-year-old centre was diagnosed over the summer and has undergone chemotherapy, Williams’ previous competitive game having seen him scoring on his England debut as they defeated the Barbarians at Twickenham in June.

The former London Irish man played the first half for a Falcons XV last Saturday during their 31-5 win over Watsonians in preparation for this weekend’s return to senior action, his inclusion coming as one of 12 changes from the side which defeated Doncaster 34-10 last Friday.

Tom Arscott, Gary Graham and Sonatane Takulua are the only three players to keep their places, Dominic Waldouck captaining the team from outside centre.

England Under-20s star Josh Hodge makes his first team debut on the right wing, Joel Hodgson starting at fly-half against one of his former clubs after spending the 2015-16 season at Headingley.

Sam Lockwood, Jamie Blamire and Mark Tampin all step up from bench duty into the starting berths as Newcastle go out in search of their 15th successive victory in all competitions.

American international Greg Peterson comes in to start after playing more than an hour from the bench last time out, Sebastian de Chaves partnering him in front of a back row which sees the addition of Nemani Nagusa and Callum Chick.

**Newcastle Falcons team to face Yorkshire Carnegie (Sunday, 3pm, Emerald Headingley)**

15 Tom Arscott

14 Josh Hodge

13 Dominic Waldouck (captain)

12 Johnny Williams

11 Tim Swiel

10 Joel Hodgson

9 Sonatane Takulua

1 Sam Lockwood

2 Jamie Blamire

3 Mark Tampin

4 Greg Peterson

5 Sebastian de Chaves

6 Callum Chick

7 Gary Graham

8 Nemani Nagusa

**Replacements**

16 Charlie Maddison

17 Trevor Davison

18 Logovi’i Mulipola

19 Toby Salmon

20 Simon Uzokwe

21 Michael Young

22 Brett Connon

23 George Wacokecoke

**Yorkshire Carnegie**

15 James Robins

14 Andrew Lawson

13 Tom Varndell

12 Dan Lancaster

11 Ryan Shaw

10 Joe Carlisle

9 James Elliott

1 Conor Davidson

2 Adam Brown

3 Sione Faletau

4 Jake Brady (captain)

5 Ed Bloodworth

6 Trystan Lloyd

7 Alex Humfrey

8 Tom Whitehurst

**Replacements**

16 Louis Musetti

17 Gareth Smith

18 Jide Ajayi

19 Jarrid Els

20 William Hill

21 Joe Green

22 Jack Metcalf

23 James Magee